Friday saw Richard Sticklee, whose past is marred with disreputable actions, led away in handcuffs. He is destined to navigate the next six years within the tight confines of a prison cell. This was the verdict concluded from the atrocious crime of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter, Trinity Waide.
Waide has carried her painful history for 20 long years. On the day that marked the closure of a bitter chapter, she faced her tormentor. The victory she claimed outside the Barrie courthouse was not just for her, but for justice itself. It meant the world to her as she stared into the eyes of her abuser, who was finally held accountable under the law.
Back in January, Sticklee received his guilty verdict on four counts of sexual assault. Trinity Waide carried the burden of unveiling the horrifying tales of her childhood, where between the tender ages of four and ten, the man she called father subjected her to abuse.
Three years ago, Waide, summoning extraordinary courage, spilled her dreadful secret of the trauma she suffered at the hands of the very person entrusted with her safety. “It was hard,” she admitted, recounting the impeccable timing of her revelations and the ensuing process.
Earlier this year, Waide pierced Sticklee with her striking victim impact statement during the court proceedings. “I called you dad. I trusted you, and I thought I was safe with you,” she verbalized her haunting story further, culminating in the disclosure of horrific facts, “The monster didn’t live under my bed or in the closet but down the hall.”
Justice Catriona Verner on Friday delivered the sentence to Sticklee, who recently resided in Ottawa. The judge had concluded that there were crucial instances of Sticklee assaulting his stepdaughter. The man who was supposed to protect her instead abused her.
Sticklee, who had remained out of custody till his trial, also fought battles against cancer and a brain tumor. The judge sagaciously pointed out his previous fraud convictions and his ongoing trivialization of his grievous offences.
The sentence also included specific restrictions for Sticklee post his jail term. Sticklee has to maintain a radius of 2 kilometres from Waide for a lifetime and must avoid locations attracting children for ten years.
Waide was successfully able to lift the publication ban on her identity as an assault victim, post the January verdict. She emphasized the therapeutic effect of confronting her assaulter and the significance of not dealing with the pain in isolation.
Upon Sticklee’s release, he would be marked on the sex offender registry for 20 years. Trinity Waide aptly summarized her relief as she declared, “My inner child has found peace on judgement day.”
