Victims speak at Sask. medicine man’s sex assault sentencing

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Many of the 12 women who Cecil Wolfe sexually assaulted say they took pride and comfort in traditional healing before they went to see the Saskatchewan Cree elder and medicine man.

They say his actions have now alienated them from their own spiritual and cultural practices.

“There is no going back to ceremonies; Cecil took that away from me for life. I will never trust a ceremony again,” one woman wrote in her victim impact statement.

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“Who can I trust now? Who is a safe elder? What is an elder now?”

“He instilled in me that culture hurts, and healers hurt people, not help,” another woman wrote.

“I now feel like an outsider looking in, wanting to be a part of the beauty, but not feeling like I can participate.”

The victim impact statements of eight women were read during Wolfe’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday in Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

Three women requested their statements be filed without being read. One woman couldn’t bring herself to write one.

Their names are protected by a standard publication ban issued on the identities of sexual assault victims.

The entire sentencing hearing was translated into Cree for Wolfe, who sat beside an interpreter in the prisoner’s box.

The 63-year-old pleaded guilty last month to 12 counts of sexual assault against 12 women he treated in Saskatoon, Loon Lake and Muskeg Lake Cree Nation between 2012 and 2021.

He admitted that he touched the women “partly for non-legitimate purposes.”

Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli argued for a sentence of 10 years and nine months. She said the total sentence would be closer to 25 years if served consecutively, but a reduction through concurrent sentences properly accounts for the totality principle.

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She said the Supreme Court of Canada has determined a three-year starting point for a major sexual assault. Morelli argued that all of Wolfe’s offences, to varying degrees, should be considered major sexual assaults.

Court heard Wolfe touched the women’s breasts, buttocks and pelvic area, sometimes inserting his fingers into their vagina to remove “bad medicine” from their bodies.

He asked some of the women intimate questions about their sex lives while doing so.

“It is not appropriate, in the Indigenous tradition, to touch a female body during doctoring, especially private areas such as the buttocks, vagina or breast. The only acceptable places to touch a female are the middle of the back, head, feet and shoulders,” according to an agreed statement of facts filed in court.

Several victims said they consented to the touches because they thought it was for legitimate treatment purposes, and because they believed they had no choice.

“I did not want to question him or his power,” one woman wrote, adding Wolfe has now made her question her spirituality.

“You used false claims under the Creator’s eyes. It would be the Creator that you have to face. I still believe in the Creator, and our traditions, but it will be hard for me to sit with a traditional healer again,” another woman wrote.

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Listing the aggravating factors of the case, Morelli said Wolfe used his trusted and respected spiritual position to manipulate vulnerable women in the Indigenous community — many who were seeking treatment for past trauma.

She told court that the harm Wolfe caused is far more than physical; it destroyed families and communities, and left women doubting that what happened to them was wrong.

An impact statement on behalf of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation described how Wolfe was welcomed into the community. His crimes have caused widespread distrust in all traditional healers, court heard.

“Our protector became an abuser,” it concluded.

A statement from Saskatoon Tribal Council was also filed, but not read out. Court heard Wolfe was employed by STC, and some of the assaults happened during doctoring sessions there.

Morelli noted that, according to support letters for Wolfe, he continued treating women while in the community. She said this is a breach of his release conditions. Defence lawyer Harvey Neufeld told court his client prayed with a woman at her home and gave her medicine.

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While Gladue factors are relevant in this case — Wolfe’s life and education have been harmed by colonialism, court heard — he also lived a traditional Cree life with a supportive family, free from violence and addiction, Morelli said.

She told court the defence’s argument that Wolfe didn’t understand the wrongfulness of his actions due to a lack of education “is not based in any evidence,” and that his pre-existing health conditions don’t preclude him from receiving treatment in prison.

Neufeld requested a sentence of four to five years. He said Wolfe is committed to “correcting his behaviour and becoming a better person.”

In court, Wolfe apologized to the women in English “for what they went through.” In Cree, he said he wished their spirits “to be light” as they left court.

Wolfe was charged in 2021 after a woman made a police report, prompting 11 more women to come forward about their assaults.

Justice John Morrall has reserved his sentencing decision to April 23.

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