Eight
years
in
prison
for
torturing
four-year-old
girl
Crown
had
asked
for
15-year
sentence
for
Darcy
Bannert
Karen
Kleiss,
edmontonjournal.com
Published: Wednesday,
September
26
2007
EDMONTON
-
Darcy
Don
Bannert
was
sentenced
to
eight
years
in
prison
today
for
the
torture
and
repeated
sexual
abuse
of
a
four-year-old
girl
who
called
him
daddy. The
26-year-old
Edmonton
man
was
convicted
in
June
of
sexual
assaulting
his
girlfriend's
daughter,
as
well
as
sexual
interference,
unlawful
confinement,
assault
causing
bodily
harm
and
assault
with
a
weapon. Police
called
it
"one
of
the
most
horrific
child
abuse
cases
they
have
ever
seen." At
trial,
court
heard
Bannert
used
handcuffs
to
shackle
the
girl
to
furniture
"for
his
own
amusement,"
locked
her
in
a
dark
basement
and
sexually
assaulted
her
at
bath
time. Witnesses
described
seeing
the
little
girl
punched,
slapped
and
hit
in
the
derelict
north-Edmonton
home.
They
testified
that
Bannert
forced
her
to
sit
on
the
couch
with
him
to
watch
pornographic
videos,
and
that
she
danced
for
him
"like
a
stripper." She
was
routinely
deprived
of
water,
to
the
point
where
she
drank
liquid
plant
fertilizer
and
her
own
urine. "This
was
systematic
plan
and
an
abusing,
controlling
pattern
of
behaviour,"
Court
of
Queen's
Bench
Justice
Darlene
Acton
said
in
an
oral
judgment. "Mr.
Bannert
chose
to
engage
in
these
criminal
activities,"
she
said.
"There
is
no
evidence
before
the
court
that
he
did
not
know
or
did
not
understand
that
his
behaviour
was
wrong
and
unacceptable
in
our
society." Acton
said
the
court
must
send
a
very
strong
message
to
Canadians
that
people
who
perpetrate
crimes
against
children
face
severe
punishment. She
gave
Bannert
the
standard
two-for-one
credit
for
the
time
he
has
already
served,
bringing
his
sentence
to
five
years
and
eight
months
in
a
penitentiary. Bannert
was
pale
but
showed
no
emotion
in
court.
Dressed
in
a
prisoner's
blue
jumpsuit
with
the
collar
turned
up
to
hide
the
big
heart-shaped
tattoo
on
his
neck,
he
sat
hunched
in
the
prisoner's
dock,
his
eyes
on
the
judge. Crown
prosecutor
Shelley
Bykewich
had
asked
Acton
to
sentence
Bannert
to
between
12
and
15
years
in
prison,
and
defence
lawyer
Kent
Teskey
urged
her
to
consider
an
eight-year
sentence. Both
declined
to
comment
Wednesday.
A
spokesman
for
Alberta
Justice
also
declined
to
comment,
as
the
case
is
still
before
the
courts. "There
is
an
appeal
period
and
the
department
will
be
reviewing
the
judge's
ruling
before
making
any
decision
on
the
appeal,"
David
Dear
said. Bannert's
22-year-old
girlfriend,
who
cannot
be
named
due
to
a
publication
ban,
was
also
convicted
of
assaulting
her
daughter
and
causing
the
child
to
be
in
need
of
protective
services. She
was
sentenced
in
July
to
two
years
of
strict
24-hour
house
arrest
followed
by
one
year
of
probation.
The
Crown
has
appealed
that
sentence. Court
heard
that
both
Bannert
and
the
child's
mother
were
also
physically
and
sexually
abused
as
children. Teskey
told
the
court
Bannert
was
raised
in
a
violent
home
in
Grand
Forks,
B.C.,
and
that
he
was
in
and
out
of
foster
care
for
most
of
his
life. At
15,
he
spent
two
weeks
in
hospital
after
his
stepfather
beat
him
with
a
baseball
bat.
Later,
he
was
sexually
assaulted
while
performing
community
service
work. The
child's
mother
also
lived
a
"horrific
life,"
defence
lawyer
Mike
Danyluik
said
at
her
sentencing
hearing
in
July. Court
heard
that
both
of
the
woman's
parents
were
addicted
to
alcohol
and
drugs
and
that
her
father
encouraged
her
mother
into
prostitution
to
support
their
habits.
As
a
child,
she
was
left
with
strangers
while
her
mother
worked,
and
was
once
offered
to
a
john. The
doe-eyed,
dark-haired
little
girl
at
the
centre
of
this
case
will
never
return
to
her
mother's
care. She
has
been
diagnosed
with
post-traumatic
stress
disorder
and
can't
form
normal
emotional
bonds
with
others.
She
has
trouble
eating,
sleeping
and
playing
nicely
with
other
children. In
a
victim
impact
statement,
a
Children's
Services
case
worker
said
her
future
will
be
fraught
with
challenges
as
a
result
of
the
abuse
she
has
suffered. However,
the
case
worker
told
the
court
there
is
still
hope
for
the
little
girl,
who
will
celebrate
her
sixth
birthday
this
month.
