Lethbridge Courthouse. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Raymond man gets five-year sentence for historical sexual assaults against his cousins

Sep 17, 2020 | 3:14 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A man from Raymond has been sentenced for a series of sexual assaults against his two younger cousins from over 30 years ago.

To begin the proceedings in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench Thursday afternoon, Justice Johnna Kubik lifted the publication ban that impacted the names of the accused and the victims.

She stated that it was only meant to protect the identities of the victims, and since the victims and the crown both agreed that it was no longer necessary, the name of Marvin “Ross” Harker can now be published.

Prior to giving her reasons for sentencing, Kubik also denied an application by the defence to stay the proceedings due to the amount of time that elapsed between the beginning and end of the court proceedings. The judge stated that the delays were solely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the adjournment of all non-urgent matters, and therefore, qualifies as an exceptional circumstance.

Harker, now 52, was convicted of two counts of sexual assault in December 2019.

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Between late 1986 and early 1987, then-18-year-old Harker sexually assaulted the girls on numerous occasions while he was babysitting them.

At the time of the offences, the victims were between the ages of 8-9 and 13-14.

In their victim impact statements, one of the victims said the incidents happened frequently enough that they became “normalized,” and she did not realize anything was out of the ordinary until she attended a high school sex education course. The other said the sexual assaults became part of her identity and effected many actions throughout her life.

Kubik described what she called a “pattern of abuse” between Harker and the victims, adding that he only stopped when he moved away.

She added that Harker’s actions constitute many “crimes of violence” that were traumatic for the victims at the time and to this day.

Since the sexual assaults took place, however, the judge described Harker as a prominent and upstanding citizen in his community. Several letters from the community echoed these sentiments.

A psychiatric assessment identified him as being a low risk to re-offend as he has no prior criminal record, has stable employment, and has no history of substance abuse, among other factors.

Between his two convictions, Harker will spend 60 months in prison.

He will have his DNA submitted to the National Sex Offender Registry and attend standardized treatment for sex offenders. He will face a five-year weapons prohibition upon his release and is to have no contact with the victims during his sentence.

Related stories:

Second trial underway for Raymond man facing historical sex assault charges

Raymond man found guilty of sexual assault at second trial