A London man was sentenced to 20 years in prison Tuesday for his attack on a Cambridge boy with autism in a care facility.
The attack took place in September 2012, at a specialized facility in London where the boy was staying and Simard was employed.
After the attack, police found the 12-year-old boy naked from the waist down and badly beaten.
He spent six months in hospital.
Simard pleaded guilty to attempted murder in May,
His lawyer, Gord Cudmore, argued that Simard should not be held criminally responsible for the attack, but the judge did not agree.
“The person that committed this crime is not who Greg Simard is,” Cudmore told lawyers following Tuesday’s sentencing hearing.
“The person who committed this crime is Greg Simard with a serious mental illness.”
A psychiatric assessment presented in court said that Simard was likely schizophrenic, while an agreed statement of facts said Simard believed he was acting on orders from the government and would be rewarded for his actions.
A second psychiatric assessment presented conflicting information and suggested Simard was in control of his actions.
Defence lawyers had asked for a sentence of six to 10 years, while Crown prosecutors sought a life sentence.
The father of the 12-year-old boy, who cannot be identified due to a court order, says Tuesday’s verdict is one his family can accept.
“There’s no sentence that’s long enough, but we need some closure and we need to put this behind us,” he tells CTV News.
“Today’s verdict is long enough that it gives us that chance.”
Cudmore says he will likely appeal both the 20-year sentence and the judgement that Simard was criminally responsible for his actions.
As for the boy’s condition, his father says he’s making “small, incremental improvements.”
He still can’t walk on his own, his family says, but several daily sessions of physiotherapy are showing progress.
With files from CTV London and The Canadian Press
