Editor's note: The following story contains details which could be disturbing to some readers.
A 54-year-old Innisfil man who befriended recently widowed women to gain access to their children has been declared a dangerous offender and sentenced to eight years in jail.
Minus the 46 months credit for the time he has spent in jail awaiting trial, James Hamilton will serve four years and two months in a penitentiary. The sentence will be followed by a 10-year, long-term supervision order requiring him to abide by a series of restrictions.
“I am satisfied… that Mr. Hamilton poses a high likelihood of harmful recidivism,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst said while designating him a dangerous offender on Thursday.
A publication ban prevents the reporting of any information related to the identity of the victims.
Hamilton had earlier pleaded guilty to sexual interference and making a sexual arrangement involving children, in addition to charges of failing to comply with a prohibition order and a probation order. He had also agreed to the dangerous-offender designation.
During the hour-long sentencing, Fuerst said Hamilton struck up romantic relationships with “vulnerable widows” so he could access young children in their care.
“Mr. Hamilton’s behaviour was predatory, designed to get him access to female children for sexual activity,” the judge said.
Court had earlier heard Hamilton exploited the weaknesses of the women by offering them money, alcohol and cigarettes so he could get closer to children. He used used manipulation, threats, praise and ingratiation and pressured the women for his own sexual gratification.
One described their relationship as being one of friends with benefits.
The case came to light when a friend of one of the women came across a series of text messages he had with the woman that had been left open on her phone after the woman had borrowed it. The phone’s owner feared for the child’s safety after reading the exchange of messages and called police.
Those messages over three days included his texts: “You gonna let me touch her? Do you think she would say something? I would never force it.”
The exchange suggests he was giving the woman cigarettes and liquor in exchange for sexual access to the child.
He then tells her to bring the child that night for two or three hours to “mess around” with the child there. They would then get a hotel room on Saturday night to “go crazy.”
He asks to take the child out for two or three hours if the woman is not available.
Those messages, said Fuerst, showed his “emotional manipulation” of the woman.
She said Hamilton knew the two children were limited in their ability to protect themselves against sexual predators.
One was nine years old as she tried to fend off his touching when he was alone with her.
It was also his goal to sexually touch the second child, who was eight years old, and he “committed to making a sexual contact happen,” the judge added.
At the time, Hamilton was on an order prohibiting him from being in areas where he might have contact with children under 16. That was related to convictions in 2010 of sexual assault and three counts of sexual interference involving another girl to which he was sentenced to five years.
In 2015, he was sentenced to 280 days after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation and failing to comply with probation. The probation order that followed was still in effect when he was arrested on the current charges in 2018.
