P.E.I. man to be sentenced for child abuse

Sexual abuse of children was "normal" in the home where Elvis Patrick Labobe was raised.

Wednesday, the 42-year-old Scotchfort man was in provincial court in Charlottetown for a sentencing hearing .

He has pleaded guilty to sex crimes against three children younger than 16. The incidents took place last summer in Queens County.

Details of the man's troubled upbringing were contained in a Gladue report, prepared by the Mi'kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I.

A Gladue report provides judges with background information on Indigenous offenders.

Abused as child

According to the report, Labobe moved from "home to home" when he was a child, including time with relatives in Ontario. In one home, he was seriously sexually abused by an older relative, according to the report. When a young friend learned of the abuse and tried to alert adults, that child was told to keep quiet.Court heard Labobe's abuser was a survivor of Canada's residential schools.

Family members feared alerting authorities to the abuse of Labobe would result in the loss of their children, court heard.

Labobe's lawyer told court he is not trying to "minimize what he did."

"Mr. Labobe knows he deserves to go to jail and he will go to jail," defence lawyer Yolande Murphy told court."He has pleaded guilty. He is deeply remorseful."

'Incredibly serious'

Crown prosecutor Jeffery MacDonald called Labobe's crimes last summer "incredibly serious ... a group of young people were traumatized. They and their families are still deeply affected."

Court has heard that Labobe was playing in the woods with his victims, two girls and a boy.He performed oral sex on the boy, exposed himself to the young girls, and attempted to have intercourse with one of them.

The children immediately informed their caregivers what had happened.When RCMP arrived, they found Labobe passed out in a van on the property.

Crown wants 'at least 2 years'

The Crown prosecutor wants Labobe sent to jail for between 18 months to three-and-a-half years. "At least two years would be best," said MacDonald.

He also wants Labobe's name placed on the national sex offender registry for life.

The defence asked for a two-year sentence to be served in a federal prison, "where programming to help people like my client is better," she said.

Judge Nancy Orr adjourned court until Friday to announce the sentence.