Man found hiding in rafters urged to turn life around

City police officers found Christopher Rivard hiding in the rafters of an abandoned house last month after a neighbour reported hearing glass shattering and voices in the Albert Street West building.

The call was received at 5:30 a.m. on June 13, and on Tuesday, the 34-year-old man was in a Sault Ste. Marie courtroom where he was convicted of two charges stemming from the incident.

Rivard faced a count of break and enter with the intent to commit an indictable offence, but the Crown accepted a guilty plea to the lesser, included offence of unlawfully being in a building.

He also pleaded guilty to breach of probation for failing to keep the peace on that date.

Ontario Court Justice John Condon sentenced him to four months behind bars — a jail term jointly recommended by the prosecution and the defence.

With the credit he received for eight days of pre-sentence custody Rivard faces a further 112 days incarceration.

The judge also placed him on probation for 12 months, with conditions that include a requirement that he stay away from the residence and undergo counselling for substance abuse.

Condon heard officers arrested another man at the break-in scene, then discovered Rivard, who had a flashlight, concealed in the rafters.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Tremblay-Hall said her client didn't know about the other person, but admits he was unlawfully on the property.

She told Condon that Rivard, who has a criminal record, and is a drug addict, had spent "a rough month on the street" and his time in custody will "hopefully" give him the resources to get counselling.

Tremblay-Hall said he was inside a Morin Street home when a shooting occurred earlier this year.

"This was quite traumatic for him," she said, adding his "drug addiction went right over the top."

The father of four children has repeatedly told her that he wants to change, Tremblay-Hall indicated to the court.

Assistant Crown attorney Marie-Eve Talbot called Rivard's criminal record, which includes a number of prior convictions for break and enter, as well as a 2007 armed robbery conviction, an aggravating circumstance.

Condon referred to the accused's comments that he wants to get clean and sort his life out.

"What's your motivation?" the judge asked

"I'm tired of this life and I want to have my children back," Rivard responded

The judge commended Rivard for wanting to be clean, but questioned "how deep are the roots" of this desire.

"They go far," the accused told him.

Condon suggested if the roots to change weren't deep "you and I will be seeing each other," noting that Rivard has been in court and sentenced three times this year.

He "strongly" encouraged the man to take the time and ask "why I am here."

"If you don't find the answer, you will just keep coming back," he warned, adding "changing your life is going to be hard work."

When he imposed the sentence, Condon told Rivard "you are the author of your own life and you have written a bad story so far."

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