A Quebec court judge spared a 93-year-old man a prison sentence for sexually abusing his two daughters over a seven-year period.
Philippe Hamelin was sentenced to two years less a day to be served in the community due to his advanced age and numerous health problems, though he was called an unrepentant abuser by the judge.
Hamelin was found guilty last year on a number of charges, including incest, sexual molestation and assault causing bodily harm, for incidents that took place between 1956 and 1963.
Hamelin, who had been strict and violent with his daughters when they were young, is now deaf and nearly blind, has skin cancer and suffers from a disease that is similar to Alzheimer's.
While the sentence was what Hamelin's defence lawyer, Helene Poussard, asked for, the Crown was seeking a prison term of between seven and nine years.
However, Judge Andre Perreault said Hamelin was in no condition to go to jail, CTV Montreal reported.
"He likened his condition to being in a body that isolates him more than any jail cell," CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux reported from outside the Montreal courthouse. "He said no prisoner would ever want to change places with him."
Other residents of his seniors' home have shunned Hamelin, who has lived in isolation due to intense media scrutiny.
As he was sentenced, Hamelin cried and whimpered quietly in his wheelchair.
During the sentencing, Perreault also praised the courage of Hamelin's daughters, Marcelle and Michelle, who last year asked that the publication bans on their identities be lifted.
Perreault said that "what they did was extremely courageous and the fact they agreed to speak openly to the media probably helped other victims who are in the same position, who feel embarrassed about having to denounce a father, a mother, a relative," Giroux reported.
Deborah Trent, of the Montreal Sexual Assault Centre, agreed that the women's decision to speak publicly about their ordeal will help other victims.
"It's a really big decision for a lot of people to decide they want to do this, there isn't always a lot of support because it involves family situations and family relationships," Trent told The Canadian Press.
"It's a very lengthy process and you don't know what the outcome is going to be so it's hard to commit to something like that."
The two women, now in their 60s, held on to each other as the judge spoke.
"No sentence I impose will be enough to give you back what you've lost," Perreault told the sisters.
Outside the courthouse, Marcelle said Tuesday's court appearance would be the last time she would see her father.
"I won't be going to his funeral," she said as she watched him go by in his wheelchair.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV Montreal
