An Inuvik man was put on two-years probation for repeatedly calling a 75-year-old woman and telling her he had sexual dreams about her.
In Inuvik territorial court Nov. 22, Richard McLeod, 46, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal harassment. Judge Bernadette Schmaltz put him on probation for two years, ordering him to complete 10 hours of community service a month for a year and not be within 10 metres of the victim, 50 metres from her house or contact her on social media. He is required to take counselling as directed.
"You should be ashamed of yourself," said Schmaltz in her decision. "You have taken a women's life and put chaos into that. No one should have to put up with that. This kind of offense often attracts a jail sentence."
Crown prosecutor Angie Paquin told court McLeod phoned a 75-year-old woman in January, first on a fax line then on her land line. When she answered, he asked her if she had gotten his message. When she said no, he told her he was having "sex dreams" about her.
The woman told him she did not want to talk to him, but he continued to tell her about his dream. She then began to pray aloud and hung the phone up. A few days later, he phoned again and she told him she did not want to speak to him and hung up.
A message was sent to her on Facebook also indicating he was having sex dreams involving her.
Following the second phone call, the woman contacted a pastor's wife to discuss what to do. At that time, she learned McLeod was moving to Edmonton and decided to let it be.
But on March 16, at approximately 1:30 a.m., the woman's fax line began to ring continually, ongoing for about an hour.
After the phone stopped ringing, the woman checked her Facebook account and saw McLeod had sent her a friend request. She contacted RCMP.
"She felt extremely vulnerable," said Paquin. "She was an elderly person and he kept phoning her."
His lawyer, Lance McLean, said McLeod made the phone calls after heavy drinking and did not recall sending her a friend request.
"Once he was made aware she did not want to be contacted, he stopped phoning," said McLean. "He understands she was feeling harassed."
McLeod said he was suffering from depression and was moving away from Inuvik now that the case was resolved.
"The only thing I want to do right now is go to Edmonton," said McLeod after reading the victim impact statement. "I just want to be a good person."