Lawyer Gets 2 Years for Sex Crimes in the North

Monday, July 14, 2003 at 15:20

A Flin Flon lawyer accused of numerous sex-related offences against several clients in northeastern Saskatchewan pleaded guilty to the charges in a Prince Albert court this morning.

54-year-old James Michael Bomek had been charged with about 40 counts of sexual assault and sex solicitation for offences alleged to have taken place in the late 1990s up to early last year. He pleaded guilty to 11 charges and was given a 3-and-a-half-year jail sentence. However, because Bomek had already served time in remand, the judge reduced his jail term to 2 years less a day.

The Crown agreed to a plea bargain so that Bomek’s victims could avoid the trauma of testifying about their experiences in court.

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation official Cornelius Ballantyne says the plea bargain is another example of how the justice system fails Aboriginal people and argues it won’t give the victims in this case any closure.

Bomek has been barred from making contact with any of his victims and from practicing law in either Saskatchewan or Manitoba. However, the judge denied the Crown’s request to ban Bomek from visiting the communities where the offences took place — communities like Pelican Narrows, Deschambault Lake, Sandy Bay and Jan Lake.