Former family counselor given 90 days in jail for molesting young Kelowna boy | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kelowna News

Former family counselor given 90 days in jail for molesting young Kelowna boy

Image Credit: FILE PHOTO

KELOWNA – A Kelowna man admitted in court today to molesting a 13-year-old boy.

Gregory John Romaniuk, 48, was drinking wine with his wife and friends in the backyard of their home on May 6, 2016 when he excused himself to go inside the house where two children were playing.

Judge Cathaline Heinrichs said in Kelowna provincial court today, March 15, he touched the boy "inappropriately" on his back, stomach and chest before returning outside.

After the guests left, Romaniuk, a former family counsellor and facilities manager at a Kelowna private school, sat on the couch with the two children. His wife sat on the floor and promptly fell asleep.

While the movie played, Romaniuk put his hands down the boys pants and forced him to touch various parts of Romaniuk's body.

Family of the young victim were present in court and several broke into tears when a description of the crime was read aloud. A victim impact statement described the young boy as feeling “shattered” by the experience.

“I don’t feel safe to know his whole life was around kids,” the victim impact statement said

Romaniuk turned himself in to police on May 7, 2016. He pleaded guilty to sexual interference of someone under 16.

Heinrichs sentenced him to 90 days in jail to be served on weekends followed by three years’ probation. The maximum sentence available is two years in jail.

Crown dropped a charge of sexual assault.

— This story was corrected at 12:55 p.m., Thursday, March 16, 2017 to fix the typo on the date of the incident. Thanks to reader Quinten Clark for pointing out the error.


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