Hryniuk guilty of indecent assaults, gets 90 days

A Prince Albert man has pled guilty to eight counts of indecent assault on students at the Moosomin Day School on Moosomin First Nation.

Morris Hryniuk entered the guilty pleas and was sentenced Monday in North Battleford provincial court.

He was sentenced to an intermittent jail sentence of 90 days in custody for the first count, to run concurrent to a two-year conditional sentence for the other seven counts in which Hryniuk will be confined to house-and-premises arrest for the first 12 months.

He also must perform 100 hours of community service to be completed by Feb. 28, 2016, and must abide by several conditions (no alcohol/drugs).

The eight incidents date back to between January 1964 and December 1969. According to the facts outlined in court by the prosecutor, the incidents involved female students between 10 and 12 years old at the school where Hryniuk was a primary school teacher.

According to Crown prosecutor Mitch Piche's submission, Hryniuk would rub his genital areas against the backs and buttocks of the students in class. The incidents also happened at students' desks and at the blackboard after school.

Hryniuk's behaviour did not end there. There were incidents at the Buffalo River School in Buffalo Narrows in the 1970s that were reported in 1984, for which Hryniuk was convicted. Hryniuk also went to prison in the late 1980s for sexually assaulting 14 female students in Kitimat, B.C. between September 1979 and September 1982.

However, it was noted that while in prison Hryniuk took part in programming and made a full commitment to get away from criminal activity, and had been successful according to a number of reports at the time. He was released in 1991 before his five-year sentence was up, and has not re-offended since.

Nevertheless, Piche noted Hryniuk was not forthcoming with authorities about the 1964-69 incidents at Moosomin Day School and suggested Hryniuk thought the early victims would simply "go away."

"Unfortunately for Mr. Hryniuk they did not go away," said Piche.

Court-appointed defence counsel Monte Migneault noted Hryniuk himself was a former victim of sexual assault as a young person. He also opposed house arrest for Hryniuk, citing the need for him to care for his wife, who is disabled.

Before his sentencing, Hryniuk expressed remorse for what happened, noting he knew how it feels to be a victim himself.

"I'm very sorry what occurred. It was my problem," he said.

In passing sentence, Judge David Kaiser noted the victim impact statements that had been filed, and noted a common theme from them of losing trust in authority figures. He read the statement from one victim who said Hryniuk's abuse "rippled onto the next generation and the generation after."

Kaiser noted the effects of abuse on young people "is an everyday reality of this court."

"It shows up in the young men and young women who appear in front of me," said Kaiser.

The judge went along with the joint submission, but did say the outcome "shouldn't be seen as largely applicable to other situations."

Kaiser was also critical of Hryniuk's conduct in imposing sentence.

"What you did to these young girls was a terrible, terrible thing," the judge said. "You're going to be living with the consequences for the next two years."