THUNDER BAY – Jeff Paxton will serve eight years in jail after he systematically “preyed upon innocence” by molesting at least seven underage male victims.
The sentence against the 49-year-old former bible camp counselor was imposed at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Monday afternoon by Justice Bruce Fitzpatrick, who accepted the Crown’s submission that was made in January.
The majority of the charges span between 1983 and 1991, with an additional incident taking place between 2003 and 2004. The boys, who included two relatives, were all under the age of 16 at the time of the offences.
Fitzpatrick imposed a global sentence, where Paxton will serve the eight-year term, as well as concurrent sentences on two other sets of charges, including three others Paxton pleaded guilty to on Monday.
Defence attorney David Young had been seeking a conditional sentence of less than two years.
In July 2015, Paxton pleaded guilty to multiple charges of sexual assault, gross indecency and sexual touching stemming from actions that included fondling, inappropriate touching and masturbating in front of the victims.
While announcing his reasons, Fitzpatrick repeatedly said Paxton was in a position of trust which he exploited and engaged in grooming behaviour with his young victims. Paxton used his position as babysitter and counselor at the Round Lake Bible Camp
As aggravating factors, the judge said Paxton seemed mostly concerned with the impact the charges had on his own life and repeatedly minimized the toll his actions had on the victims.
Fitzpatrick cited a victim impact statement where the victim said years later, he can still hear the camera shutter click from Paxton taking nude pictures of him.
A publication ban is in effect protecting the identities of the victims.
In addition to the jail sentence, Paxton must also comply with the sex offender registry, submit a DNA sample and is barred from directly or indirectly contacting any of the victims for the length of his sentence.
Remaining charges against Paxton were withdrawn.
