A Yukon man who told police he was in a sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl will serve a one-year community sentence for sexual assault.

Justin Leo Etzel, 28, appeared in territorial court last Monday and pleaded guilty to the offence. The matter had initially been scheduled to go to trial in Yukon Supreme Court last week.

“It is absolutely wrong, both morally and legally, for a man in his 20s to be sexually involved with a child,” said Judge Donald Luther. “Period.”

According to an agreed statement of facts read by Crown prosecutor Ludovic Gouaillier, in October 2012, a nurse at a community medical centre called RCMP after a 13-year-old came in seeking an abortion.

Her identity is protected by a publication ban, and the Star is not revealing the community where the assault occurred.

After the girl had the procedure done at a B.C. hospital, RCMP seized the fetus for DNA testing.

The girl told police that she and Etzel were in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship and that he was the father. There was no way it could be anyone else, she said.

Etzel was 26 at the time.

RCMP collected a DNA sample from Etzel, and in a statement to police, he admitted to being in a sexual relationship with the girl.

Testing completed in March 2013 revealed Etzel was not the father. Regardless, Gouaillier said, he admitted to having sex with the girl.

“These men should have done the right thing and made sure she was not in their company,” Luther said.

“The effects of the summer of 2012 will cause her grief for a long, long time.”

Etzel had been back in the community that summer on a six-week break from his mining job, court heard. He was partying and drinking with his friends and younger people in the community, including the victim.

“The very thing that creates an offence in these cases is the age of the victim,” Gouaillier said.

“The adult should know that you do not engage in a sexual relationship with someone who is under the age of 16” – the age of consent in Canada.

The girl did not provide a victim impact statement, but told Gouaillier she wanted no contact with Etzel in the future.

Gouaillier and Etzel’s lawyer, Malcolm Campbell, presented a joint submission on sentencing: 12 months plus a year of probation. Campbell sought a sentence served in the community.

Violence wasn’t involved in this case, and his client was co-operative with police, giving them a statement that was “ultimately incriminating,” Campbell said.

“Mr. Etzel should get significant credit for taking responsibility for this offence,” he added, rather than taking the matter to trial and putting pressure on the victim and other community members to testify.

Etzel has no prior criminal record, Campbell said, despite his difficult upbringing.

The man grew up with parents who attended residential school.

There was alcohol abuse in the home, and his siblings were taken into foster care. He moved to Whitehorse for high school, and upon graduation from F.H. Collins Secondary School, he began working in mining. He’s had steady employment in the field since.

Since being charged with this offence, Campbell said, Etzel has quit drinking and is now in a healthy relationship with a woman in her 30s. He goes to church regularly, cares for his grandmother and financially supports his siblings.

Luther concluded a community – or conditional – sentence was appropriate given the circumstances and Etzel’s First Nations background.

“We want Mr. Etzel to be able to continue his productive life in which he considerably and significantly supports his family,” Luther said.

Etzel stood up and addressed the judge: “I just want to say that I did do that and I’m sorry.”

He said he has moved to another community and still works at a mine.

Luther prescribed several conditions for the next 12 months.

Etzel is to have no contact with the girl, consume no alcohol or drugs, complete 40 hours of community service, abide by a curfew and have no contact with people under the age of 16 when he has consumed alcohol.

His sentence will be followed by a year of probation.

Etzel will also be entered into the national sex offender registry for 10 years.