Saskatoon motel owner sentenced to 18 months probation for sexual assault

John Pontes, the owner of Northwoods Inn and Suites on Idylwyld Drive in Saskatoon, was sentenced to 18 months probation for sexually assaulting one of his tenants.

Pontes was convicted of sexual assault in November 2018, after touching a tenant’s breasts in a back room of the motel in June 2017.

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The probation order will see Pontes registered as a sex offender for 20 years.

During sentencing at Saskatoon provincial court on Tuesday, the Crown argued for a 90-day jail sentence, followed by two years probation. The defence argued for a suspended sentence, leaving probation time to the discretion of the court.

The judge took into account the 75-year-old had no prior criminal record, but said Pontes was much older than the victim and was in a position of authority.

“He should know better,” Judge Morris Baniak said.

Pontes will also be assessed for any needed treatment, such as sex treatment counselling, if necessary.

“I’m not saying that Mr. Pontes needs to be counselled, with respect to anything in particular, but given the nature of the conviction entered, given the public interest in a matter like this, I would think most members of the public would want to at least see him assessed,” defence lawyer Patrick Fagan said.

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The 30-year-old woman testified at trial last September, telling court on the day she went to pay rent to Pontes to stay at the Northwoods Inn and Suites, he led her to a back area of the motel. She said that’s when Pontes felt under her bra to touch her breasts.

Pontes was released on bail shortly after being charged in November 2017.

Pontes will be on trial again in May for other charges related to an alleged sexual assault against another woman.