The mother of a sexual assault victim told a Red Deer court on Monday she was proud that her daughter came forward.
Pastor Stanley Richard Schalk, 58, who was convicted of sexual assault in September, was in Red Deer provincial court for sentencing.
Related story: Schalk found guilty
The mother, who can’t be named to protect the identity of her daughter, read from a victim impact statement, saying she had nightmares of Schalk “hunting” her daughter and had lost all trust in him.
After hearing submissions from the Crown prosecutor and defence lawyer, Judge Darrell Riemer put off a decision on punishment until Jan. 11.
Crown prosecutor Dominique Mithurin asked for a four- to six-month prison sentence. The maximum sentence is 18 months in prison.
Mithurin said Schalk, a pastor at Potter’s Hand Ministries, was in a position of trust and authority when he sexually assaulted an employee on two occasions in 2015. A one-year probation with strict conditions was also requested.
Mithurin said a pre-sentence report showed Schalk had only “limited remorse” for his crimes.
During the trial, the victim testified that Schalk had pushed her down on a blanket and slid his hand under her sports bra and touched her breast on June 15, 2015. She testified she pushed him away and yelled at him.
About a week earlier in a separate incident, Schalk had hugged the victim and grabbed her buttocks in other unwelcome contact.
Defence lawyer Lorne Goddard asked for a conditional discharge, which would mean his client would serve no prison time.
Goddard said Schalk has been getting counselling and recognizes the “anguish” he has caused his victim. The pastor has been punished by the amount of publicity his trial and conviction received, his lawyer said.
In his client’s favour, is the amount he has given to the community over many years, he said.
“We have a man here who has done many good works in the City of Red Deer.”
Schalk is co-owner of Potter’s Hands Developments that operates River Valley Apartments, a townhouse development in Riverside Meadows, apartments above Potter’s Hands soup kitchen, and The Buffalo apartments.