Hour 4 of Ottawa Now for Mon. June 22nd, 2026

An Ontario judge has sentenced a man to house arrest for sexually assaulting his biological sister, ruling that the mandatory minimum five-year sentence for incest with someone under 16 is unconstitutional and “grossly disproportionate” for offenders with intellectual disabilities. The 26-year-old man, identified only as D.C. in the decision from Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, was charged in 2022 for having sex with his sister for four years starting when she was 12 years old. Although he’s an adult, a defence expert testified that D.C. has an intellectual disability such that...