Ex-pastor jailed for sex with 10-year-old 'wife'

Prosecutor: Canadian has 'no remorse' over acts with girl 38 years his junior

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updated 8:28 a.m. ET Jan. 27, 2009

MONTREAL - A Canadian man who described himself as a pastor was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl he claims was his wife.

Daniel Cormier, 57, was convicted in October after members of the now-defunct Church of Downtown Montreal became suspicious of his relationship with the girl.

Cormier, who led the church, has maintained he did nothing wrong when he married the girl, then 10 years old, in 1999 during a ceremony at his church.

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"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 Associated Press generally does not name the possible victims of sexual abuse.

Cormier is currently on trial in another case where he is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl — also during his time as a pastor. He denies the accusation.