A CANADIAN MAN who pleaded guilty to flying to Ireland twice to have sex with a teenage girl has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, and has been banned from using the internet for ten years.
Jashua Robert Tremblay, 34, from Fort McMurray in Alberta, had pleaded guilty to two counts of child luring, one count of sexual interference and two counts of breach of recognisance.
The court case followed a long investigation involving Alberta Police, Canada’s national police force and the gardaí.
Gardaí first became aware of the offences and opened an investigation in 2013. The case was then passed on to Canadian police, and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team became involved in February 2014. Tremblay was arrested in December of 2015.
CTV Edmonton reports that Tremblay repeatedly apologised for his actions in court this week. His defence said he had made bad decisions as his marriage was failing at the time.
The Edmonton Journal reports that Tremblay met the victim online when she was 13, and began sending her messages via an app.
When he made his first trip to Ireland the girl had turned 14. According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court they had intercourse three times. He travelled to Ireland again during one of the girl’s school holidays.
The victim’s father wrote in a victim impact statement that his daughter had been “brainwashed”, and that she believed she would move to Canada and marry Tremblay when she turned 18, according to the paper.
According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation it’s the first time the province has charged anyone with child sex tourism.
Legislation introduced in 1997 allows Canadians to be prosecuted for sexual offences committed in other counties.
In addition to his prison sentence and internet ban, CTV reports, Tremblay will also be banned for ten years from locations where children could be.
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