A Winnipeg grandfather of five guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing a vulnerable child told a judge Monday loneliness and social isolation during the pandemic drove him to a drug addiction that clouded his judgment.
“I was a functioning addict, hiding it from everyone,” said 52-year-old Kevin Shrutwa. “I just hate myself. It’s ugly. I have three daughters.”
Shrutwa pleaded guilty in December to one count each of child luring, sexual interference and possession of child sexual abuse material.
Shrutwa was introduced to the victim by his drug dealer — the girl’s uncle — who told Shrutwa she was 18.
“He was told that she was of age and he believed that,” defence lawyer Adam Hodge told provincial court Judge Lindy Choy.
“This is not somebody who sought out someone who was underage,” Hodge said. “When (police told him) her age he threw up. He feels awful about what happened and angry that he was lied to.… He was misled.”
A 28-page agreed statement of facts previously provided to court details a history of sexual victimization that began when the girl was eight at the hands of her aunt and uncle, both of whom were charged with sex crimes against the girl.
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.
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 degree of the accused’s interference with the sexual and physical integrity of the victim is immense here.”
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—king idiot.”
According to a pre-sentence report provided to court, Shrutwa continues to feel he was “duped” by the victim.
Shrutwa has shown “very little insight into the offence, other than an acceptance retroactively that the conduct was illegal,” said Crown attorney Ben Wickstrom.
“The degree of the accused’s interference with the sexual and physical integrity of the victim is immense here,” Wickstrom said.
The girl’s aunt was previously sentenced to 30 months in prison. Her uncle remains before the court.
Hodge argued the 12-year sentence recommended by the Crown should be reserved for alleged offenders such as the girl’s uncle.
“The impact on (the victim) is largely the result of (her uncle)… who passed her on to other individuals,” Hodge said. “He is the person responsible very significantly for the exploitation.”
Choy will sentence Shrutwa July 14.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.
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