Brent James Gabona, a 53-year-old man from Waldheim who pled guilty last March to sexually assaulting five vulnerable residents of a group home in Hepburn while he was employed as a care aide there between 1992 and 2009, was scheduled to be sentenced at a court hearing in Rosthern October 11.
At that hearing, Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli recommended Gabona be sentenced to 15 years; while Gabona’s defense lawyer, Jordan Durant, argued for a six and a half year sentence.
Family members of Gabona’s victims were expecting Gabona to be led away in handcuffs and transported to a penitentiary at the conclusion of the hearing.
But that didn’t happen. Judge Bruce Bauer adjourned his sentencing decision to January 24, 2024.
The judge also turned down a request by Morelli that Gabona be taken into custody. The Crown prosecutor argued that cancelling Gabona’s release was necessary in order to uphold public confidence in the justice system.
But the judge denied the request on the grounds that Gabona had not committed any further offences or breached his release conditions.
Gabona walked out of the courtroom into the bright autumn sunshine, got in his vehicle and drove away; bound only by the court-imposed restrictions in his release and a requirement to return to the court session at the Rosthern Lions Hall January 24 for sentencing.
Rick Boguski, the brother and caregiver of Darryl Boguski, one of Gabona’s victims, said the decision to allow Gabona back into the community for the next several months is “a slap in the face” to all the victims and their families whose lives have been shattered.
“We’re just really, really disappointed at the court’s decision today,” said Rick outside the court following the hearing October 11. “There are five victims that Brent Gabona has admitted to, and he’s still being allowed to walk free.
“The harm that Brent Gabona has caused is off the scale.”
Flanked by his daughter, Talia, and physically supporting his blind, autistic, non-verbal brother Darryl, Rick reiterated key points he had made in his articulate and emotionally-charged victim impact statement during the court hearing. He said he has found strong evidence that there were more victims than Gabona has confessed to, and that the assaults were over a longer period.
“We believe that Brent Gabona has not admitted to all the facts,” said Rick. “He’s given a half-hearted confession that suits his own conscience, but there is no redemption in half-truths.”
Talia Boguski, who travelled from her home in Montreal to attend the sentencing hearing in Rosthern, said she struggles to understand why Gabona is viewed by the correctional system as a low-risk to re-offend.
“It’s just shocking to know that he’s free,” said Talia. “I don’t think that he’s a low risk to re-offend. He’s manipulative. He’s offended for so many years, and I don’t see what has changed. He is still active on social media; posting things like, ‘contact me if you would like to speak about God.’ So my question to the court is: ‘where is the protection for the most vulnerable?’ Who may be reaching out to Brent Gabona through social media?”
Rick said he believes Gabona should be declared a dangerous offender.
A publication ban on the names of Gabona’s victims, with the exception of Darryl Boguski, remains in place. Three of the victims were male, two were female. All the victims had intellectual and physical disabilities, were non-verbal and unable to protect themselves from assault. They were all discharged from the group home due to behavioural issues consistent with symptoms of sexual abuse and trauma. Three of Gabona’s victims died prior to his arrest by the Rosthern RCMP on May 10, 2022.
Darryl Boguski was a resident of Shepherd’s Villa from 1990 to 2015; he now lives with Rick in Alberta.
During the October 11 sentencing hearing in Rosthern, the Crown prosecutor revealed that Gabona had been convicted of sexual assault of a minor in 1992, just months prior to his being hired as a care aide at the Shepherd’s Villa group home in Hepburn. The person that hired him at that time was his mother.
“The director of Shepherd’s Villa should have been aware of the conviction,” said Morelli.
She said a 15-year sentence reflects the seriousness of the crimes, saying that the abuse of a vulnerable person “cannot be viewed as anything but a crime demonstrating the worst of intentions.” She added there were several aggravating factors including the duration of the offending, the degree of trust, the number of victims and the widespread harm this has caused victims, their families and the community.
She noted that the crimes took place in secrecy behind closed doors, while Gabona appeared in public to be an upstanding member of his community. She said a long sentence was appropriate not as an act of vengeance, but to protect the public.
Gabona’s lawyer told court that his client has admitted his guilt, and said a six and a half-year sentence was appropriate given several mitigating circumstances. He said his client blamed his offending on marital problems, financial struggles and porn addiction.
During the court hearing, Gabona listened without expression to the victim impact statements. At the conclusion of the statements, Gabona said he accepted responsibility for his actions, and acknowledged the harm he had done, expressing his “deepest and sincere remorse and regret,” while “willingly and humbly submitting to all punishments.”
Al and Naomi Hawkins, the parents of the late Derek Hawkins, who was a resident at Shepherd’s Villa from September, 2003 to November, 2005, said the revelation that Gabona had a previous conviction for sexual assault of a young person before he was hired at Shepherd’s Villa was shocking. They had no idea their son, who they described as a cheerful young man, was being placed into the care of a sexual predator. Gabona was the personal care aide for Derek Hawkins for the two years he was there, a period which saw a dramatic negative change in his behaviour. Derek was also kicked out of the group home because of behavioural issues. He passed away in 2011.
Al and Naomi Hawkins have been pressing for a police investigation into their son’s case for the past two years, submitting hundreds of documents as evidence to the RCMP. However, Gabona has not yet been charged with any offenses in the case because he has never confessed to assaulting Derek.
“The whole RCMP case was based only on Brent Gabona’s confession,” said Al. “It wasn’t based on any investigation they did. We came forward because of Derek’s circumstances and what happened to Derek during his time there. We felt that there was a connection, and back when Derek was discharged in 2005, we raised the question and asked for an investigation then, but it was to no avail.”
Al said for the past two decades, he and Naomi have been trying to get answers. When they learned of Gabona’s confession in 2022, they were devastated.
Finding out in court on October 11 about Gabona’s previous conviction was another blow.
“Every day of the last twenty years has been turmoil in our lives,” said Al. “We’ve been dealing with the consequences of other people’s actions and inactions. Finding out today that Brent Gabona had a criminal conviction that we weren’t aware of, prior to our son going to that group home, just fills me with despair because basically we threw Derek to the lions, and people there knew it. They knew that individuals working with our son had committed those crimes before, and we asked and asked and asked questions, of people who could have given us answers and they never did. We were lied to.”
Naomi Hawkins said the only way their case is likely to advance is if more people step forward with information about additional victims.
Al said responsibility extends to the management and board of the group home, as well as the provincial social services ministry.
“They don’t get a free pass from me,” said Al. “A lot of people that were involved back then have retired on the backs of individuals like Derek, but not suffered like our son did. So whatever happens with the RCMP, there’s not going to be any free passes to the government of Saskatchewan, Shepherd’s Villa or the individuals involved.”
A civil lawsuit launched in March, 2023, by Rick and Darryl Boguski is seeking financial compensation for the ongoing medical treatment and psychological counselling Darryl requires as a result of the repeated sexual, physical and emotional abuse he suffered at Gabona’s hands between 1992 and 2009. It also seeks financial compensation for Rick Boguski for lost income after taking on the role of primary caregiver for his brother; and for medical and counselling expenses. The lawsuit names Brent Gabona, Myrna Andres, Shepherd’s Villa group home in Hepburn, and the provincial Ministry of Social Services.
Rick is hoping that anyone with information on incidents at Shepherd’s Villa group home during the period when Brent Gabona worked there will contact him via email at rlboguski@gmail.com. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Rick cover the cost of legal fees for the civil suit. The GoFundMe account is ‘Justice for Darryl Boguski’.