Self-proclaimed Indigenous healer Cecil Wolfe was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday for 12 counts of sexual assault against former patients.
The 64-year-old Saskatchewan man pleaded guilty to the charges in February, after twelve women reported instances of Wolfe touching them inappropriately during sessions.
An agreed statement of facts says he told the women he was removing “bad medicine” from their bodies and showed them “trinkets” as evidence of his work.
The assaults took place over a period of nine years from 2012 to 2021.
The packed courtroom heard emotional responses and tears from participants as Justice John Morrall handed down the sentence.
Morrall told the courtroom it was vile for Wolfe to use his position of power as a spiritual healer to violate the women.
He said the victims, who lived in Saskatchewan and Alberta, were vulnerable and that Wolfe preyed on them.
Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli spoke with media following the adjournment of the trial.
“The impact is tremendous. It has struck at the heart of their culture and has created over almost a tear in their fabric that people are now struggling to determine what is and is not appropriate in their own culture,” Morelli said.
The Crown was originally recommending a ten-year sentence, with the defence arguing for four to five.
“There is no sentence that will ever put these women or communities back in the position that they would have been in, have had they never met Mr. Wolfe. And it is only for the dedication of the Saskatoon Police Service and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Victim Services that these women were able to come forward and share their stories,” Morelli said.
In addition to his eight years behind bars, Wolfe will permanently be on a sex offender registry.
The Crown went on to share that while the cultural impact of this crime is immeasurable, the heart of Indigenous culture is far from anything represented by Wolfe.
“This case was about one man victimizing Indigenous women. And, what he did was fraudulent and does not speak for Indigenous culture or anyone else other than himself,” Morelli said.
-With files from The Canadian Press
