In an eight-year jail sentence handed down to a Yukon man convicted of sexual assault against girls in his own family, a territorial court judge has praised four women for coming forward in the wake of trauma.

"I would like to begin my decision by echoing comments made by Crown counsel and commend each of these four women for their strength and courage in coming forward,” Judge Karen Ruddy said in territorial court last month.

"I well recognize how difficult it is to come forward when one has been a victim of a sexual offence. How much more difficult it must be when the perpetrator is a close family member that one has looked to for protection, support and guidance,” she said.

The agreed facts of the case reveal a pattern of "taking advantage of young female members of his family, of plying them with drugs and with alcohol and of taking advantage of them sexually, including numerous instances of full intercourse when they were at their most vulnerable,” Ruddy stated.

A publication ban protects the identities of the victims, who were all under 18 years old at the time of the incidents.

At least one of the incidents involved a family member who was under the age of 14.

The accused, who pleaded guilty to each of the sexual offences, was referred to in court only by his initials.

The four offences took place between 1979 and 2006.

The man's daughter, granddaughter and two nieces "have struggled on a daily basis as a result of what was done to them,” Ruddy said.

They have wrestled with drug and alcohol addiction, struggle with relationships and have considered or attempted suicide repeatedly.

"The impact on them is incalculable, the devastation complete and the damage irreversible,” she said.

The perpetrator has a criminal record going back to the 1980s that includes numerous alcohol-related violations, three convictions for violence and one for sexual assault.

The Carcross-Tagish First Nation member expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for his actions in a statement to the court.

The judge noted he grew up in "chaotic circumstances” which exposed him to substance abuse and violence from an early age.

The victim of sexual abuse as a child himself, the man has struggled with alcohol addiction throughout his life.

"He has, however, managed to obtain his GED (a high school equivalency certificate) and also to become a respected journeyman welder,” Ruddy said.

The man's sister-in-law and niece provided letters of support that speak to the "positive things that (he) has given them and the potential that he has to be a role model to others in his community,” the judge stated.

He was "instrumental” in helping his niece become a ticketed tradesperson in the Yukon, Ruddy noted.

"Unfortunately, there is a darker side ... perhaps one born of his own troubled childhood, but one which has had a devastating impact on the lives of these four women,” she added.

The judge handed down a sentence of five years for sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 14, three years consecutive for another sexual violation, and a total of six more years for two counts of sexual assault to be served concurrently.

The eight-year total will be reduced to seven years and eight months due to credit for time served in pre-trial custody.

The man is prohibited from any contact with anyone under 16 years old, unless under the supervision of "a person whom the court considers appropriate.”

He cannot contact the four victims, except with written permission from a caseworker or parole officer. And he must register publicly as a sex offender for 20 years.

A mandatory 10-year firearms ban also applies.

The judge acknowledged the man's guilty pleas eliminated the need for a trial: "It means his four victims will not be put through the difficult — and in circumstances such as these — no doubt traumatic experience of having to testify.”

Ruddy also said the sentence applied the principles of denunciation and deterrence.

"It is a sentence which does, in my view, express society's abhorrence of (his) behaviour ...”

Similar cases often carry a sentence in the range of six to 12 years, she noted.

"There is nothing this court can do to repair that damage. It is my hope, however, that the sentence passed today offers them some comfort in its public recognition and condemnation of what was done to them, and of what they have suffered at the hands of (the accused),” Ruddy said.

"May they find some peace of mind going forward.”