12-year sentence sought for man who sexually abused girl

Prosecutors are seeking a 12-year prison sentence for a Winnipeg grandfather of five who repeatedly sexually abused a vulnerable child introduced to him by his drug dealer — the victim’s uncle.

Fifty-two-year-old Kevin Shrutwa pleaded guilty in December to one count each of child luring, sexual interference and possession of child sexual abuse material. He remains in custody and will be sentenced in the spring following the completion of a court-ordered pre-sentence report.

A 28-page agreed statement of facts provided to court details a history of sexual victimization that began when the girl was eight at the hands of her aunt and uncle, who have been charged and are before the court in separate proceedings.

Shrutwa was introduced to the victim during a June or July 2023 FaceTime call with the girl’s uncle. During the call, the uncle asked Shrutwa if he needed anything, turned his camera toward the 12-year-old girl and said: “How about this?”

The man told Shrutwa the girl was 18 and was available for a “date” for $150.

“Based upon that interaction, the accused believed that (the uncle) was ‘pimping out’ (the victim),” said Crown attorney Ben Wickstrom, reading from the agreed statement of facts at the December hearing before provincial court Judge Don Slough.

A short time later, Shrutwa was sent a video of the girl “engaged in sexual activity” and arrangements were made for the two to meet at a Route 90 gas station where they “engaged in sexual touching” in Shrutwa’s car.

Shrutwa and the girl, who was intoxicated by drugs and alcohol when she arrived, exchanged contact information before the girl returned to her uncle’s vehicle.

The girl believed Shrutwa had paid her uncle for the encounter, but he hadn’t, says the agreed statement of facts.

Shrutwa and the girl continued to meet for sex at his home and in his car, and a hotel, frequently recording sex acts while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The abuse was reported to police in January 2024, after the girl’s grandmother, who was her legal guardian, and other family members discovered pictures and videos of her and Shrutwa on her phone.

The grandmother told investigators she knew the girl was being sexually exploited by an older man who gave her drugs, but “did not report to police because she thought she could manage it herself.”

“She asked (the girl) why she was doing this and (she) told her that ‘she needs a father figure… because her father is in jail,’” says the agreed statement of facts.

Police arrested Shrutwa on Feb. 24, 2024.

While transporting Shrutwa to police headquarters, officers heard him claiming the girl told him she was 19.

“I was lured into this shit,” he said. “What was I thinking? F—–g idiot.”

Shrutwa “did not take all reasonable steps to ascertain (the girl’s) age and was either reckless or wilfully blind to it,” says the agreed statement of facts.

The girl, who is now 14 years old, has remained in the care of Child and Family Services since January 2024. As of Oct. 29, she had been reported missing 136 times.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca