A Canadian man who described himself as a pastor has been sentenced to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl he claims was his wife.
Daniel Cormier, 57, was convicted last October after parishioners of the now-defunct Church of Downtown Montreal became suspicious of his relationship with the victim.
Cormier, who was head of the evangelical church, has maintained he is not a pedophile and that he did nothing wrong because the pair were married during a ceremony at his obscure church in 1999.
"I would say that there's no remorse," prosecutor Anne-Andree Charette said outside the courtroom. "He just tried to find justifications."
The girl, now 19, testified she was too young to grasp the concept of marriage but said she remembered the sexual abuse in vivid detail.
The court heard that Cormier was lovestruck for the youngster.
During the trial, Quebec Court Judge Sylvie Durand announced she would not hear testimony supporting Cormier's marriage defence.
During the proceedings, the court heard that Cormier's church catered to the marginalized. Starting in 1993, he took care of the girl's mother, a recovering junkie and prostitute, and her two daughters.
Cormier was arrested in 2003 after a social worker notified police of the pair's relationship. The case progressed slowly through the courts as numerous motions were filed by both prosecution and Cormier, who represented himself at the trial.
Cormier is on trial in another case involving a 16-year-old girl and could face additional prison time if convicted. The alleged crimes, which Cormier denies committing, also date back to his time as a pastor.
