GUELPH – Michael Hurst quickly loosened and removed a silk green necktie before being led out of an upper-level courtroom at Guelph Superior Court on Nov. 15.
Moments before Justice Cynthia Petersen had sentenced Hurst, who she described as a “serial sexual offender,” to a total of six months in prison.
A jury convicted the 46-year-old Palmerston man in September on three counts of sexual assault, and acquitted him on two remaining counts, following a week-long trial that month.
Hurst was was charged in 2021 with multiple allegations of sexual assault against two women between 2017 and 2020.
The Advertiser is unable to name the women or report on many specific details heard in court because of a court-ordered publication ban, standard in most sexual assault trials.
Wednesday marked the third time Hurst has been described as a serial sex offender in court.
Crown prosecutor Peter Keen made the same remark in May when Hurst was sentenced in an unrelated case, having been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women and committing an indecent act in front of an another three women between 2007 and 2015.
Keen also prosecuted the most recent case against Hurst, and in October, following the September trial, the attorney once again asserted Hurst was “a sexual offender, and a repeat sex offender.”
Justice Petersen agreed in her sentencing decision, much of which the judge read aloud on Wednesday morning, glancing up often to look toward Hurst.
Petersen sided with testimony given in court by the two women. The judge found them to be credible, clear, balanced, consistent, compelling, reliable and plausible.
Hurst’s testimony on the other hand, the judge found, was implausible and largely downplayed or tried to rationalize actions of non-consensual sexual touching and grinding.
The psychological harm the women continue to endure is “real and lasting” and underscored the gravity of Hurst’s offences, the judge said.
The Crown argued in September for a prison sentence ranging from 12 to 15 months.
Hurst’s defence lawyer Mary Murphy suggested a range of sentencing, from a conviction with probation, to an intermittent sentence of 60 to 90 days that would be served only on certain days of the week.
The defence submitted several letters in support of Hurst, presenting a dichotomy between the twice-convicted sex offender and the man family, friends, community members and his employer described as an empathetic and compassionate person who cared about the community.
Justice Petersen said Hurst doesn’t control his sexual behaviour and exhibited a pattern of predatory and invasive behaviour against women who were in vulnerable positions.
“These were planned sexual assaults,” Petersen said.
The mitigating factor Petersen most heavily considered when determining a sentence wasn’t the “collateral consequences” the defence suggested Hurst suffered, partly as a result of local news reporting, but that he sought therapy for his behaviour.
Petersen said counselling for his behaviour suggests Hurst is interested in dealing with his problems.
The judge found the Crown’s suggestion of a 12 to 15 month prison sentence to be excessive and unnecessary, but said the defence’s suggestions of probation or an intermittent sentence were insufficient.
He was given individual sentences of a month, two months and three months on the three counts, to be served successively without interruption for a total of six months.
Following a half-year behind bars, Hurst will be on probation for 18 months.
He is also banned from owning weapons for life, cannot communicate with the women he victimized, must submit his DNA, and will be on a sex offender registry.
A two-year house arrest sentence he is currently serving for other sexual offences is paused and will resume once he’s out of jail.
While Hurst serves his sentence, his wife of 22 years, who court heard continues to be supportive of him, is left to parent their young child.
Because of the length of the sentences, Hurst won’t be automatically eligible for a parole hearing before the Ontario Parole Board, but he could apply to be considered for one.
Outside of the courtroom on Wednesday, one of the women said she’s happy the ordeal is over.
