Child abuser Russell Wolfe addresses victims for first time

Serial child abuser designated long-term offender A Saskatoon judge declared admitted child abuser Russell Wolfe a long-term offender on Thursday.

Warning: graphic content

A Saskatoon judge accepted a joint submission that child abuser Russell Dennis Wolfe be designated a long-term offender and receive a 15-year prison sentence.

The sentence, which was handed down Thursday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, works out to 10 years after credit for the time Wolfe has already served. Once he’s released, Wolfe will be closely watched in the community for another 10 years.

Before receiving the sentence, Wolfe apologized for the first time to the victims he sexually assaulted.

“I’d like them to know from the deepest place in my heart, I’m sorry. And also, I’d like to apologize to my family, my friends and even to my community. I’m sorry. They deserve better,” Wolfe said through tears.

Wolfe, 59, pleaded guilty to 20 charges last year, including sexual assault and making child pornography. He gave young girls in his neighbourhood alcohol, drugs and money in exchange for sexual acts. The offences occurred between 1997 and 2008.

In 2014, Wolfe was arrested as part of a Canada-wide investigation into online child pornography. Investigators found USB devices in Wolfe’s Saskatoon home and discovered he was videotaping and photographing the girls he was abusing.

In 1993, he was convicted of threatening a sex worker with a knife and attempting to rape her. A psychiatric report done on Wolfe states he began seeing prostitutes after he discovered his wife was cheating on him and his behavior progressed from there.

Wolfe’s age, his lack of sexual offender treatment and the “unusual” pattern of his crimes — his offending includes years-long gaps and doesn’t follow a typical pattern from less serious to more serious — are the main reasons Crown and defence lawyers argued for the long-term offender status.

The designation means the lawyers proved Wolfe is at a high risk to reoffend but that, through treatment, those risks could eventually be controlled in the community.

“I’m sure that correctional service will find a troubled man, but one that’s willing to participate and work with the system to ensure he can be released at some point into the community again,” defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said.

Wolfe told Dr. Sabehram Lohrasbe he doesn’t want to be “like this.”

“I want to feel good about something. I want a reason to be proud,” Wolfe said.

During the hearing earlier this month court heard audio recorded victim impact statements from four of 14 identified women. All women said they isolated themselves since the abuse and many turned to drugs, alcohol and prostitution.

“The part that really clutched on my heart was the fact that of the four victims, at least two said they felt it was their fault,” Crown prosecutor Kathy Grier said outside of court Thursday. “That is so mixed up and so we have a lot of work to do I think in society to make sure people don’t feel that way.”

Wolfe told court he wants the women to know it’s not their fault and that he never meant to hurt them. He said he was dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues at the time, but has since grown.

“I was stupid, I was wrong and I was selfish,” he said.

Pfefferle said Wolfe was impacted by the women’s statements and that he had a “genuine attachment” to a number of his victims.

“He was moved by being able to witness the damage that he had caused so many years ago now and being able to see it today still causing damage to people that he, in a bizarre way, felt a lot of love and affection for, despite committing serious offences against them,” Pfefferle said.

Wolfe has been ordered not to contact any of the victims and is banned for life from places children frequent, including playgrounds, community centres and swimming pools. He also received a lifetime ban from using the internet, unless for a court-approved reason, and he can’t have a job if he’s in a position of authority to a young person.