Warning: Graphic content A man who for months sexually abused a pre-teen girl while he was supposed to be taking care of in her Vancouver home has been sentenced to seven years in prison, according to a recently published court decision. Ferdinand Silabay Talines was convicted of one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of sexual assault after a judge-alone trial and sentenced last month in provincial court. “I am mindful of what she went through during the course of the sexual acts by the accused, and for an 11-to 12-year-old girl, it must have been terrifying,” Judge Gregory M. Rideout wrote in his sentencing decision. The court heard the victim’s mother worked two, sometimes three, jobs to support her children and trusted Talines to watch her two daughters when she was not home. He was in his mid-40s at the time. The victim’s mother also rented out rooms to make ends meet but the judge noted the repeated sexual assaults happened when no one else was around. “The modus operandi involved the accused attending at the bunkbed bedroom, which is adjacent to the living room, of S.P. and her younger sister. S.P. was on the top of the bunk bed,” the judge wrote. “The accused would climb up the ladder to that top bunk and would hold his hand over her mouth and then commit the sexual assaults.” The sentencing decision noted Talines sexually assaulted the girl, including by raping her, between 20 and 25 times over a period of four months between June of 2021 and October of 2022. The girl, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, disclosed the abuse to a social worker in 2024. What the judge described as an “invasive medical exam” which “must have been very difficult” for the girl to endure found injury consistent with sexual trauma. Talines had no criminal record but Rideout said the reports reviewed as part of the sentencing process shed very little light on the offender’s background or his likelihood to commit more crimes. Crown was seeking a sentence of seven years while Talines’ defence lawyer argued for a sentence of five years. The judge opted to impose the sentence sought by the Crown—handing Salines a seven-year-sentence on the sexual assault causing bodily harm charge and a five-year-sentence on the sexual assault charge, to be served concurrently. “In this particular case, where there has been predacious activity, including sexual intercourse with a minor, and whereno protection is utilized, it attracts a high degree of moral culpability,” the judge wrote. “I do not know whether or not the accused is at a risk to reoffend, as there is no psychological assessment. With that consideration in mind, it is a factor the court must be concerned about as there will always be that possibility of reoffending.” Talines was taken into custody after he was convicted in March of this year and will be credited 293 days for time served. He will also, “in all likelihood,” be deported to the Philippines and be “persona non grata coming back to Canada,” the judge said. If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
