Former deputy chief of Klondike Valley fire dept. sentenced to 18 months for sexual assault

A former deputy chief of the Klondike Valley Fire Department who sexually assaulted his former intimate partner has been sentenced to 18 months in jail. 

Leslie Iain Weatherston, who lives in Dawson City, Yukon, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault after a jury trial last September.

At his sentencing on Wednesday, Yukon Supreme Court Justice Karen Wenckebach said that denouncing sexual assault was at the heart of her decision. She denied the defence's request for a conditional sentence. 

Police arrested and charged Weatherson in 2022 after the victim reported earlier that year that he had sexually assaulted her in December 2020. 

The court found that Weatherston, 52, and the victim, whose name had been under a publication ban up until now, were in a long-term relationship at the time of the assault. During sentencing, Wenckebach lifted the publication ban after the victim, Priska Wettstein, said there was no need for it. 

Wettstein told CBC News she asked for the ban to be lifted to show there should be no shame in denouncing sexual assault.  

"I don't have anything to be ashamed of," Wettstein said. 

"It cost me a lot of energy to go through this ... I do want to talk about it. If there's one thing I can do with all of this, it's trying in whatever way I can to help others that have gone through or are in the same boat as I am.

"No one has to fear not being believed or people pointing fingers at them." 

Factors behind the sentence

At the time of the assault, Weatherston and Wettstein had been in a relationship for several years. 

Wettstein, 54, testified that it was a rocky relationship, and that she had wanted to leave for a long time. She said a few days before the assault, she told Weatherston that she had been with someone else. She said she started being afraid of Weatherston after he reacted badly to the confession. 

The court heard that on the night of the assault, Wettstein went to Weatherston's house for "closure." While she was there, Weatherston asked her to "take her clothes off and go to the bedroom," and slapped her during intercourse. 

Wettstein testified that she froze out of fear and felt pressure to have sex with him. According to her victim impact statement, the assault left her with depression, suicidal thoughts, and had her living in constant fear. 

Defence lawyer Malcolm Campbell argued the assault was a "one-off incident," and pointed to the fact that Wettstein and Weatherston stayed together for months after the assault. Campbell described Weatherston as someone involved in the community who suffered from work-related PTSD and is actively seeking treatment for it.

The defence had asked for a conditional sentence — served in the community — rather than jail time.

Justice Wenckeback agreed that, with no previous criminal record, there's low risk of Weatherston re-offending. 

However, she noted that the fact it happened within an intimate relationship, and that it included non-consensual physical contact, were considered aggravating factors in sentencing. She concluded that a conditional sentence wouldn't be appropriate given the deep impact the assault had on Wettstein. 

Weatherston also received a 10-year firearm prohibition.