Judge sends 67-year-old fitness trainer, bodybuilder to prison for sexually exploiting teen

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2023 (865 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A longtime Winnipeg fitness trainer and bodybuilder has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually exploiting a vulnerable teen girl.

Valentine Payne, 67, had previously pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation and two counts of disobeying a court order.

On April 21, reading from his written decision, provincial court Judge Alain Huberdeau said Payne first met the then 14-year-old girl when she went to the gym he owned in Winnipeg in 2018.

The girl, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, returned to Payne’s gym sometime in 2020, saying she needed help.

Valentine’s Fitness and Weight Loss Centre was located in a strip mall on Portage Avenue at Lenore Street. It has since closed.

The girl told the gym owner she was in the care of Child and Family Services and was being exploited into sex work while living in a group home.

Payne offered her a job, with pay under the table, before the vulnerable girl initiated sexual activity — which the man continued, including at his gym and a local motel, Huberdeau said.

The exploitation, including intercourse, occurred June 3 to Sept. 16, 2020.

Although 16 is the age of consent in Manitoba, Payne was in a position of authority over the girl and was 51 years her senior, allowing a charge to be filed.

“I find these to be three serious offences against a vulnerable victim who presented with a risk-laden lifestyle,” Huberdeau said.

Payne used his cellphone and social media to contact the victim, making reference to sexual acts and referring to her at times in derogatory terms via text, Huberdeau said, as well as references to loving the victim.

A protection order was granted by the courts in August 2020, barring Payne from having contact with the girl. He violated that order multiple times before the end of October 2020, Huberdeau said.

The violations included group-home workers observing the victim entering in Payne’s vehicle, the two going to a motel and Payne contacting the girl via Facebook.

“Sexual offences against children are inherently wrong. They always put children at risk of serious harm,” Huberdeau said.

“The gravity of the offences are obvious. Sexually exploiting a vulnerable 16-year-old child victim, who is in need of help by a person in a position of authority, violates all societal values, and then perpetrating this criminal behaviour even after a protection order makes it all that more deplorable.”

Huberdeau said Payne worked in the fitness industry for more than 40 years as well as being a part-time exotic dancer, and is married with four children.

The judge noted the trainer was abused by his father as a child, before immigrating to Canada with his now-wife between the ages of 22 and 23.

Huberdeau said, among the aggravating factors of Payne’s crimes, was his “willingness to exploit a vulnerable, at-risk child in care who he knew was being exploited.”

Crown prosecutor Katie Dojack had sought a sentence of six years for the sex offence, six months for the first count of disobeying a court order and a year for the second count, to be served consecutively.

Defence lawyer Amado Claros had submitted a custody sentence for the exploitation — a minimum of one year — would be cruel and unusual punishment, and instead sought either a lengthy conditional sentence order, a 90-day intermittent sentence or fines of $5,000.

Huberdeau also ordered Payne to comply with sex-offender registration for 20 years, starting once he’s released from prison. He was also banned from possessing weapons for life and ordered to give a sample of his DNA to authorities.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera