A former advocate has been sentenced to 150 hours of community service, as a direct alternative to nine months in prison, for two counts of sexual assault.
Steven Balmer was found guilty by Guernsey’s Royal Court in February, after it was found he’d touched two women on their bottoms during a night out at a restaurant in St Peter Port last year.
Judge Catharine Fooks said the 39 year old, who was 38 at the time of the crimes, said that his action “crosses a threshold, even if at the lower end of sexual contact”.
She noted the trial had been “particularly hard” on the victims, and that his actions that night had lasting impacts for them.
“People must be able to go out and enjoy themselves without fear of sexual offending”, said Judge Fooks as she explained the court’s rationale for sentencing.
She pointed to Balmer being a “person of previously impeccable character”, and his 16 years as a “hard-working and dedicated advocate”.
The sentencing also takes into account that Balmer admitted he’d been drinking on the night he offended, and has since voluntarily sought help to curb his alcohol intake.
The court also pointed to the “devastating impact” any immediate prison sentence would have on his young family, and the “genuine remorse” Balmer had shown since being charged, and the “low risk of reoffending” that he represented.
Judge Fooks also said the court’s consideration that the impact on Balmer’s career was part of the punishment, having lost his position at Carey Olsen.
In her closing remarks she told the former advocate that he’d let this family down, and his profession down, and reiterated his defence lawyer’s words that he’d seen a “crushing fall from grace”.
Balmer was sentenced to 150 hours of community service for count one, in lieu of nine months in prison. The same sentence was given for count two, but to run concurrently.
He also has a notification period as a sex offender of three years, starting from 16 February this year, the date he was found guilty by the Royal Court.