Former Windsor Spitfire Ben Johnson has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 2013.
Johnson will also have to submit his DNA and will be on the national sex offender registry for the next 20 years.
Leaving the court Tuesday afternoon, the victim's mother, who cannot be identified because of a publication ban, said she feels justice has been served.
"This is now in the rear-view mirror, now we can move on as a family, as a unit, my daughter can really begin to heal," the mother said.
She said the judge's sentence recognizes the need to protect the vulnerable and is a step in the right direction to battle rape and rape culture.
"Victim shaming happens on a daily basis and there should be zero tolerance for it, it's bullying, we don't tolerate bullying we shouldn't tolerate victim shaming," the mother said.
A short time after the sentencing hearing had concluded, Johnson's lawyer Patrick Ducharme confirmed an appeal would be filed.
"We've discussed it for some period of time since the conviction was registered. I have appeal lawyers in Toronto that have looked at the transcripts and in discussions with them we've decided there should be an appeal filed on the conviction," said Ducharme, speaking to BlackburnNews.com.
The appeal is set to be filed tomorrow, but Ducharme wouldn't divulge what grounds the appeal would be based on.
"It's better that I don't discuss those grounds right now because we're still working on some of the wording of it, so I think we'll just wait and see how it's filed," said Ducharme.
As part of the appeal process, Ducharme is hoping to have Johnson released from custody until the appeal can be heard.
Ducharme anticipates the appeal process could take up to about a year and a half.
— With files from Ricardo Veneza