An Edmonton man who sexually abused his girlfriend's young daughter had his appeal denied by the Alberta Court of Appeal Monday.
Darcy Bannert, 26, was originally sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting the four-year-old girl back in 2005 and was convicted of sexual interference, unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, common assault, uttering threats and two drug charges.
According to witnesses, Bannert's victim was repeatedly handcuffed to furniture, systematically tortured and sexually abused.
The court heard she was denied liquids to a point where she had to drink urine from the toilet and plant water. Graphic details of her sexual abuse also emerged from the trial. She described how sex in a bathtub with "daddy" was a common occurrence.
When Bannert appealed, he argued the judge should not have allowed hearsay evidence, namely what the child had told the foster mother, to be entered as evidence and used to convict him.
The appeal justices ruled the trial judge was correct to admit the statements because there is no way the child could have had such detailed information about abuse if it did not happen to her.
The Crown also appealed the decision, particularly because the trial judge refused to convict Bannert on both the charges of unlawful confinement and assault causing bodily harm saying they were too similar.
The Court of Appeal disagreed and ruled Bannert be convicted on the additional charge of assault causing bodily harm. He will now be resentenced with the additional conviction.
The girl's mother, Bannert's ex-girlfriend, was earlier found guilty of assault for hitting the girl. She was handed a two-year conditional sentence to be served in the community.
Bannert, who was himself physically and sexually abused as a child, was ordered to surrender a sample of his DNA for the national DNA databank. He was placed on the national sex offender registry for 20 years.
