Judge hands predator 10-year sentence for sexually abusing, supplying drugs to 15-year-old girls

A man who sexually exploited and abused two vulnerable teenage girls in Portage la Prairie in exchange for drugs and money will spend a decade behind bars.

David Guy Howard Taylor, 42, who had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual interference and one of procuring sexual services, was sentenced to the lengthy prison term by Portage la Prairie provincial court Judge Jean McBride Monday.

“(The victims) were children — period,” McBride told the man as she issued the sentence, which was jointly recommended by Crown prosecutor Jennifer Malabar and defence lawyer Mike Cook.

Taylor was among a group of one woman and five men alleged to be involved in a sexual exploitation ring that RCMP broke up in June 2024. The two girls in Portage la Prairie were abused for more than six months.

The other people accused — Chastity Assiniboine, Wesley Roulette, Frank Tecza, Sean Boak and Alex Lidster — are taking their cases to trial, with court dates set for later this year.

Malabar outlined the case against Taylor at the onset of the hearing.

The RCMP investigation began in March 2024 when an aunt of one of the victims reported that her 15-year-old niece and her 15-year-old friend were “having sex with older men,” Malabar told court.

The two girls went to high school together and had started experimenting with drugs, including powdered cocaine, and they were looking to purchase more, Malabar said.

A friend then put them in contact with a dealer, which led them to a drug den, where they were given crack cocaine, she said.

While at the drug den, the prosecutor said, the vulnerable girls met Assiniboine, whose charges have not been proven in court.

“Chastity Assiniboine then introduced, particularly, (the first victim) to certain men and had her do various sexual acts with these men in exchange for either small amounts of money or drugs,” Malabar said.

The first victim told RCMP she had met Assiniboine and did illicit substances with her at the drug den before she took the teen to Taylor’s house, where he asked if she “wanted to have some fun,” said Malabar.

He then sexually abused her after locking her in his garage, said Malabar, then gave her and Assiniboine $60 each.

“She says in her statement, ‘I consider it rape, I did not know that this was going to happen when I went to the garage and I did not want that to happen,’” Malabar said.

Assiniboine continued messaging the first victim, asking her to “have sex” with Taylor or others in exchange for money or crack, but the girl did not want to, said Malabar. One night, the first victim showed the second victim one of the messages and the second teen agreed to participate.

The second girl, who was at that point regularly using crack, was abused about 12 times. “I would say he gave her… cocaine in exchange for sexually assaulting her,” Malabar said.

The girls have suffered in their small community, the prosecutor said. One of them has been in the hospital repeatedly with suicidal thoughts or after hurting herself. The other girl has not been able to fully process what happened.

Malabar provided the judge photos of the two girls from the time of the abuse, noting they had posted the pictures on their social media accounts and that the photographs would have made it clear to Taylor they were teenagers.

“Looking at their images from around that time period, I see two young and beautiful girls. Their behaviour, their interest in drugs… quite frankly is pretty typical of teenagers, this is what they do when they’re in Grades 8, 9, 10, unfortunately. It’s not every child that goes through this but so many children do,” McBride told Taylor.

“The point of being an adult is that when that happens, you have to be the (responsible person) and you don’t take advantage of a child that is going through that.”

The judge said the teens had no idea what would happen to them.

“They came across predators, frankly, including yourself, because you took advantage of their vulnerability by supplying drugs… and money, and it just fuelled that, so now, you’ve got these two young people who are feeling very terrible about themselves because of things you did,” McBride said.

Cook told court that Taylor had a “horrendous” childhood, with alcoholic parents and an abusive father.

Taylor said he had been heavily abusing alcohol and cocaine at the time of his crimes, but has been sober since and feels like a different person.

He told the judge it has been hard to look in the mirror since his arrest.

A family member of one of the victims told court that he, too, was beaten by his alcoholic father — but he would never think of hurting a child. He told Taylor he will never be forgiven.

Taylor was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years after his release, among other court requirements.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca