Hannah Spray (Postmedia) Saskatoon, SK - An RCMP restorative justice co-ordinator and crisis negotiator admits he “lost it” when he assaulted his 14-year-old daughter after reading her Facebook postings.
Sgt. Michael D. Luciak, 48, had forbidden his daughter from going on Facebook, but when he found out she had been on the social networking site in February, he asked to read what she was posting.
When he saw what she had written — which included information about her personal life and crude posts about his fiancee — Luciak experienced a “flash of anger,” defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan said Tuesday in Saskatoon provincial court.
Luciak kicked his daughter in the shin and struck her on the back of the head and on her upper arm.
Immediately afterward, said Sullivan, Luciak calmed down and knew that what he had done was wrong. He took his daughter to her mother’s home and has been straightforward with police about the circumstances.
“He wanted to deal with it immediately,” Sullivan said. “At no time did he feel what he did was right.”
Luciak was charged with assault and on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty.
Regina Crown prosecutor Bill Birch recommended Luciak receive a conditional discharge, which would mean if he fulfilled certain probation conditions, such as counselling, he would not have a criminal record.
Sullivan argued for a discharge without conditions, or an absolute discharge. Since the incident, Luciak — a 25-year member of the RCMP — has engaged in counselling on his own and voluntarily had no contact with his daughter even before a no-contact order was made.
“Everything that would be required on a probation order, he’s taken care of on his own,” Sullivan said. “In the months since this happened, he’s been living under conditions very similar, of his own choosing.”
She noted Luciak has had an “exceptional” career with the RCMP, which he plans to leave to pursue work in the private sector. Currently, he is the restorative justice co-ordinator for Saskatchewan and has acted as a primary crisis negotiator for the province, although since the assault charge was laid, he has been working a desk job in Regina.
Sullivan said she has discussed with Luciak how “ironic” it was that a crisis negotiator “lost his cool” in a confrontation with his daughter.
Luciak also addressed the court, saying that he “deeply regretted” his actions and that if another situation like that ever presented itself he would deal with it differently.
“The biggest hurt through all of this is the loss of the relationship with my daughter,” he said.
Judge Barry Singer agreed an absolute discharge was appropriate. That means that although Luciak pleaded guilty, he is not convicted of the assault charge.
[Source]
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