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WARNING: This story references and contains details of child sexual assault.
Crown and defence lawyers at the sentencing hearing for a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in June to assaulting a toddler in Welland, Ont., disagree on one key factor that would help determine how long Daniel Senecal will be in prison.
Whether a weapon was used during the sexual assault has been at the centre of closing arguments by Crown attorney Michal Sokolski and defence lawyer Michael Peterson. Sentencing proceedings began in July and wrapped up Tuesday in St. Catharines court.
Now, the fate of the 26-year-old is in the hands of Justice David Andrew Thomas, who will give his decision next month.
Senecal pleaded guilty on June 23 to breaking and entering, aggravated sexual assault on a person under 16, sexual interference, assault by choking, failing to comply with probation and possessing child sexual abuse exploitation material.
The identity of the girl, who was 3 at the time of the crimes, is protected under a publication ban.
Arrested after breaking into girl’s home
On the evening of Aug. 30, 2025, Senecal had several drinks and, sometime between 3 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. ET the next day, broke into the girl’s home and sexually assaulted her, the Crown told court in late June.
Senecal was arrested on Aug. 31 in the backyard of his residence after police were sent to a home in Welland for a “medical assistance call involving a child.”
In late June, court was told about the detailed, severe injuries that were inflicted on the child, which were discovered by her mother the morning of Aug. 31.
Assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris said that after the assault, the victim was taken to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, where medical staff identified the injuries as consistent with use of force and strangulation.
On Tuesday, Sokolski argued that based on evidence — including photos of Senecal breaking into the home and testimonies from his roommate and a doctor — Senecal used a weapon in the assault.
Senecal’s roommate, Brittany Duclos-Robins, told the court in July that the morning after he broke into the home, he admitted to her that he used the weapon, something she told police 11 days after the crimes were committed.
Peterson brought into question the roommate’s testimony, saying that she only heard about the weapon from outside sources and decided to tell police in order to get away from backlash she was getting from members of the public who were calling her “monster” and “pedophile.”
Dr. Valerie Bloomfield, a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist, gave expert testimony on Aug. 24.
She said she was called to McMaster Children’s Hospital on Aug. 31, 2025, to help assess the victim. She said opinions about the injuries were formed before she was aware of allegations of a weapon being used and based on her own expertise.
Peterson argued that it wasn’t impossible, according to the doctor’s testimony, for the injuries to have been caused without a weapon.
On probation at the time of 2024 crimes
Senecal was on probation at the time of his crimes in August 2024 after the “violent,” as described by the judge, sexual assault of a 12-year-old boy in 2021. He was released early in March 2025 after some jail time.
Senecal is also in the National Sex Offender Registry.
Senecal had also been accused of assault in 2020, but the charges were withdrawn.
The case has garnered widespread community outrage, and calls for harsher sentences for sex offenders and criminal justice reforms across the Niagara Region.
Since then, reforms to Canada’s bail and sentencing system have become law, receiving royal assent earlier this month. Bill C-14, the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, amends the Criminal Code, the Youth Criminal Justice Act and the National Defence Act to tighten the bail and sentencing framework across all three.
Bikers and supporters of a far-right extremist group have also taken part and led rallies demanding justice for the girl, prompting police to warn against “vigilante actions.”
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
