A small group gathered outside the Lethbridge courthouse on Jan. 25 as two parents accused of assaulting and sexually assaulting their six-week-old daughter were set to make a court appearance.
Many of the protesters traveled from other parts of the province to call for strict penalties for the accused and carried signs calling for bail to be denied.
Zak Gladue travelled from Edmonton and is with a group called Dads on Guard. He said hearing the news of the assault hit close to his own heart, as he is a survivor of child sexual assault.
“The fact that someone who is put in that position of authority and trust of that child could take that vulnerability from the child and completely ruin their life before they even had a chance to have one, it just breaks my heart,” he said.
Gladue added he and his group wanted to be a voice calling for justice for the child. He criticized penalties often handed out in Alberta and said they should be more severe.
“I want to put out a message to the survivors and victims out there, you are not alone. You got a community behind you that’s going to stand for you — a community of survivors themselves and we just want to let everybody know that we are not putting up with this anymore,” Gladue said.