Former Kingsville Fire Chief Robert Kissner, left, leaves court on April 16, 2019 after being convicted on nine sex-related charges. Photo by Mark Brown, Blackburn News.Former Kingsville Fire Chief Robert Kissner, left, leaves court on April 16, 2019 after being convicted on nine sex-related charges. Photo by Mark Brown, Blackburn News.
Windsor

Kissner sentenced to five years on sex charges

Kingsville's former fire chief has been sentenced on sex-related crimes.

Robert Kissner appeared before Ontario Superior Court Justice Pamela Hebner Thursday afternoon and will serve five years in prison on the nine charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation he was convicted of in April, according to his defence lawyer, Kenneth Marley, in an email to BlackburnNewsWindsor.com.

The sentence in relation to the first victim was 12 months, according to Marley. Charges pertaining to the second and third victims were a consecutive 20 months apiece. The sentence was eight months for a fourth victim, for a total of 60 months.

Hebner also ordered Kissner to provide a DNA sample for a national database, as well as register as a sex offender for life.

Sentencing was supposed to take place in June, and victim-impact statements were submitted to court at that time. Hebner allowed a stay in sentencing so that Kissner could get his affairs in order before his sentence, as well as those of his mother, who is recently deceased.

Kissner was acquitted on eight other charges.

The investigation first began in December 2016 by Ontario Provincial Police, and Kissner was originally charged with two counts each of sexual assault and exploitation. Six additional charges were laid in January 2017.

All of them involved young men saying that the former chief inappropriately and sexually touched them over two decades. Some of those complainants were underage when the offences took place. The victims are not being identified due to a publication ban imposed by Hebner.

Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes had asked Hebner in June to sentence Kissner to seven or eight years, with a minimum of five-and-a-half years due to the seriousness of the offences, plus stricter sentencing guidelines laid out by Parliament.

In defence, Marley had pointed out that Kissner had a stellar record before the convictions, and that the former chief had been “vigilant” in complying with court-imposed conditions. Marley had also submitted letters supporting Kissner from family, friends, former fire department colleagues and community members.

Kissner is facing two additional charges that were handed down by the OPP in March of this year after another complainant came forward, one for sexual interference, the other for sexual assault. These are expected to be tried separately.

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