Johannes Semigak was sentenced to 60 days for uttering threats. (Regan Burden/CBC)
WARNING: This story contains details of suicide and intimate partner violence
A Hopedale man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to the manslaughter death of his brother was also charged while serving that sentence for threatening his partner — the mother of three of his children.
Johannes Semigak believed his partner was unfaithful to him while he was in jail and threatened to kill her and himself. In an encounter with a correctional officers, Semigak told them that if he couldn’t be with his partner then nobody would.
When police warned his partner about the remarks he made, she said that he had made them in the past.
A nurse, who saw Semigak during his incarceration, gave similar warnings to the woman, saying that he would hurt her when he got out and had “hit her lots before.”
Over a period of 28 days between June and July of this year, Semigak called his partner’s home over three hundred times. The calls ranged from one minute to twenty minutes in length. Those calls were not recorded so the nature ccouldn’t be included in the court’s decision. But, Judge Jennifer Standen said Semigak’s comments and “incessant contact” would have been concerning.
On Friday, Standen sentenced Semigak to 60 days in jail for the threats he made. Standen put a no contact order in place between Semigak and his partner and ordered that any access to their shared children needed to be made through a third party.
WATCH | More time behind bars for a man who pleaded guilty to the manslaughter death of his brother:
Standen also considered banning Semigak from returning to Hopedale, where his partner and their shared children live, but said that “banishment is somewhat antiquated” and being away from his land and his home would have a detrimental impact on the man’s rehabilitation and reintegration.
Semigak was emotional during his court appearance. He broke down into tears when Standen spoke of the intergenerational trauma he experienced, the loss of his parents and siblings and the abuse he was exposed to as a child.
Semigak nodded in agreement when Standed said he needed to model acceptable behaviours in relationships for his daughters.
Serving time in an RCMP lock up
Due to the closure of the Labrador Correctional Centre for asbestos remediation, Semigak spent his time awaiting his court date in remand at the RCMP lock up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
Semigak told CBC that his mental and physical health were suffering during his time at the lock up, as he was spending 23 hours a day in his small cell with no socialization with other inmates, no outdoor time, no video calls with family and no programming.
Standen referred to being remanded as “hard time” and Semigak was granted enhanced credit for his time spent there, with each day being equal to two days of his sentence.
To Semigak’s knowledge, he will remain at the RCMP lock up in Happy Valley-Goose Bay until his sentence ends. His scheduled release date is Sept. 22.
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