A Saskatchewan man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the sexual assaults of 12 women while under the guise of being an Indigenous medicine man.
Justice John Morrall told a Saskatoon courtroom that it was vile for 63-year-old Cecil Wolfe to use his position of power as a spiritual healer to violate the women between 2013 and 2021..
Morrall said the women, who lived in Saskatchewan and Alberta, were vulnerable and preyed upon. Their identities are protected by a publication ban.
“The sentence I will impose will seem wholly inadequate for the women. The violations they have experienced will remain with them for the rest of their lives,” the judge told court Wednesday.
“The sense of loss, the breach of trust and loss of faith in themselves and in the community with respect to something that happened to them through absolutely no fault of their own cannot easily be regained. “A sentence will not bring them back joy or comfort or stability.”
Wolfe pleaded guilty to the assaults in February.
An agreed statement of facts says Wolfe would touch the breasts, buttocks and genitals of the victims during their appointments.
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Wolfe would tell the women he was removing “bad medicine” from their bodies and showed them “trinkets” as evidence of his work, including cat claws, hair and snake bones, the document says.
It says the women complied with Wolfe’s requests because he was highly regarded in the community.
The judge said he considered Wolfe’s abuse of power an aggravating factor in the sentence.
“The relationship between the patient and a medicine man, given the spiritual aspects, is in some ways more significant than a Western doctor and his patient,” Morrall said. “(Wolfe) lied to each of the victims by telling them that his assaults were part of his legitimate healing powers.”
The defence had sought a sentence of four or five years, while the Crown had requested 10 years and nine months.
The judge said each offence and its corresponding sentence would have amounted to 23 years, but he found it would have been “unduly harsh.”
He said Wolfe did not have a significant criminal record, experienced trauma at day school while he was a child and expressed remorse for the assaults.
The judge added Wolfe has health issues and has been living in impoverished conditions.
“Mr. Wolfe, it would be up to you to change your life,” Morrall told the man.
“Do not feel sorry for yourself. Think about those victim impact statements. Please feel sorry for those victims of your crimes. Their lives have been changed forever.”
As part of his sentence, Wolfe has been prohibited from carrying firearms and weapons for 10 years after his release from prison. He must also comply with provisions under the sex offender registry for life.
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