'Catastrophic fall from grace': Trevor Birtch convicted for incidents in 2021, 2022
Former Woodstock mayor Trevor Birtch has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison for sexually assaulting a woman he was in an on‑again, off‑again relationship with, in what a judge described as a “catastrophic fall from grace,” according to CBC.
Superior Court Justice Spencer Nicholson delivered the sentence Tuesday, imposing two terms to be served concurrently: one of four years and eight months and another of six months, according to the report.
Birtch, 51, was convicted in January 2025 of two counts of sexual assault for incidents that occurred in 2021 and 2022 involving the same woman, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban.
Nicholson found that the woman had struggled with addiction and that Birtch frequently used drugs and alcohol and supplied her with both during their relationship, according to the report. The judge concluded that a high‑end sentence was warranted in part because Birtch took advantage of a vulnerable person while serving as mayor.
While 71% of workers feel protected in their workplace, only 38% report not witnessing any workplace misconduct or mistreatment in the past 12 months, according to a previous report.
Judge’s remarks and nature of the assaults
In his reasons from the bench, Nicholson used strong language to characterise Birtch’s conduct. "You treated the victim like she was your property,” he said. “She was treated like an abused animal. She was not. She was a human being, entitled to be treated with dignity and respect,” according to CBC’s report from the sentencing.
Nicholson told the court that Birtch’s abuse was closely tied to his public role. “You took advantage of your position, for your own sexual gratification,” the judge said. “The evidence in this case demonstrated, for all to see, the callousness, the indifference, that you demonstrated to this victim, and to women in general,” CBC reported.
The judge also referred to nine letters of support filed on Birtch’s behalf, which described him as hard‑working and deeply religious, according to the report. He acknowledged those portrayals but said they did not change the court’s view of how Birtch acted toward the complainant.
“While much of what is stated [in the letters] may possibly reflect the person that Mr. Birtch may once have been, as mayor or otherwise, it is clear that the person he was towards the victim in this case was very different,” Nicholson said, according to the report.
A previous report detailed how women at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) are far from being free of sexual harassment.
