Dudley Taylor - the man found guilty this week of sexually assaulting four young children 20 years ago - was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday.

The now 70-year-old man avoided the law for almost two decades by leaving the Yukon for the United States, where he eventually settled in Washington state.

Taylor was found guilty by Justice Roland Haines of the Yukon Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Haines heard both the Crown and defence counsels' sentencing recommendations before ultimately settling on the low end of the prosecutor's suggested range of seven to 10 years' jail time.

In his submissions, Crown prosecutor John Phelps said there were few mitigating circumstances in Taylor's case.

By avoiding the law for so many years, Taylor robbed his victims of any closure they might have gotten from seeing justice done.

The judge agreed, saying Taylor left the family with "an open wound" when he disappeared after being charged with the crimes but before he could be tried.

"The victims ... had to testify both as young children and again this week as adults," Phelps reminded the judge.

Taylor's lawyer, Gordon Coffin, recommended his client be sentenced to three to six years.

Taylor was never violent and never threatened violence during the year or more that he repeatedly assaulted the children, one of whom was just six at the time, Coffin said.

He suggested that should be considered a mitigating factor, but the judge quickly disagreed with him.

"I don't think we can give credit for the absence of violence," Haines told Coffin.

Taylor's partner of 16 years also stood before the court to speak to his character. She described him as "a loving companion in every respect."

Her young granddaughter has lived with the couple for three years, she told the court, and Taylor is the girl's father-figure.

"I would never in my wildest dreams imagine that this man is capable of this kind of perversion," she said. "We love him, we cherish him. He has been a wonderful person to us."

She said she will stand by him in spite of the conviction.

Haines credited Taylor with time-and-a-half for the eight months he served between being caught in Washington and the trial, thereby reducing his seven-year sentence by one year.