Jason Tardif, 54, was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison by the Magistrate’s Court in July, six weeks for sexual assault and four weeks consecutively for behaving in an indecent manner.
He was also made subject to notification requirements for five years.
Tardif immediately appealed against the sentence and having provided security, was released on bail, appearing again in court yesterday.
After an hour and a half of deliberation with the jurats, the appeal was dismissed.
The first incident took place in October 2022 when a neighbour was interested in a job at the prison and went to Tardif’s home to discuss it.
Tardif demonstrated a body search on her, and as the woman went to leave his home, she said he put both of his hands on her shoulders and made comments about her body.
On the second occasion he had been receiving a massage from an 18-year-old girl. The court found that during this he had wafted his towel, which exposed his penis, and made innuendo comments towards her.
Advocate Alan Merrien brought the appeal to court on behalf of Tardif, stating that a community service order would still provide a deterrent to others, allow rehabilitation and provide a statement of the court’s disapproval of the offences.
Advocate Merrien also said that a five-year notification period was too long and two years would be more appropriate.
He added that Tardif’s actions were opportunistic, not premeditated, he was of previous good character and that despite one of the complainants being 30 years younger, there was no power imbalance and such a large sentence would not be have been given following UK sentencing guidelines.
Tardif had separate trials for each charge, which Crown Advocate Fiona Russell said had taken into account everything and the custodial threshold had been passed.
She added that Guernsey courts set their own levels for sentencing and do not have to follow UK guidelines.
Tardif is now serving his 10-week sentence in prison and will be subject to a five-year notification order.
