An Edmonton man diagnosed with underwear paraphilia has been sentenced to seven years jail time for breaking into two homes in 2014 and stealing a pair of a teenage girl’s underwear.

In June 2016, Gordon William Adams, 34, pleaded guilty to breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offence, breaking and entering and committing theft, and possession of marijuana.

On Friday, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Ken Nielsen handed Adams two three-and-a-half year jail terms to be served consecutively, as well as a $750 fine for marijuana possession and a 10-year weapons prohibition. Adams received credit for 40-and-a-half months in pre-trial custody, leaving him with just over three-and-a-half years left to serve. 

The charges stem from September 2014, when Adams entered two different homes where teenage girls lived, going into the bedrooms of a 14-year-old on one occasion, and a 15-year-old on the other. He stole a pair of underwear from the 15-year-old’s room.

According to a psychiatric report referenced during the sentencing hearing Friday, Adams has been diagnosed with underwear paraphilia. Paraphilia is a disorder characterized by the pursuit of atypical sexual desires to the point of causing problems, as well as distress and danger to others. 

While citing the psychiatric report, Crown prosecutor Anders Quist said Adams’ first act of sexual deviance dated back to when as a nine-year-old he was caught masturbating with his sister’s bra. He first started stealing underwear around the age of 18. 

During the sentencing hearing, Quist argued for eight years jail time, citing a number of aggravating factors including youth victims and a high likelihood to reoffend. Quist suggested Adams receive four years for each of the break-ins, pay a $1,000 fine for the marijuana possession and be subject to a 20-year weapon prohibition. Meanwhile, Adams’ defence lawyer Gary Smith argued for five-and-a-half years jail time, with a $750 fine for the drug possession, citing his client’s admission of guilt as a mitigating factor.

One of the young women victimized by Adams in the 2014 break-ins wrote a victim impact statement that was read out loud in court by Quist.

“I was never this afraid of my own house before,” the young woman wrote, as she described her need to do nightly rounds, sometimes repeating it three times, checking that all the windows and doors in her home are securely locked.

Before hearing the sentence, Adams stood and apologized to his victims, and expressed a desire to change.

“I don’t ever want to do that ever again,” he said.

In 2008, Adams was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges including breaking and entering and committing sexual assault with a weapon, breaking and entering with intent to commit sexual assault, and sexual assault.

Court heard Adams broke into several west-end homes in 2007 and made sexual advances on sleeping females, including a 13-year-old.

At the time, police said Adams was a “person of interest” in the so-called Panty Bandit case, which involved a male suspect responsible for at least nine break-ins in the west end since May 2003 in which female underwear was stolen.

Adams was arrested in his car on Sept. 19, 2014. In his trunk were found snapshots of unknown teenage girls at a high school graduation, a woman’s tank top, a bikini bottom and six pairs of female panties in various sizes, including two pairs that belonged to the teen victim. Also seized was a plastic bag with 59 grams of marijuana.

Court heard Adams told police he collected the panties from garbage bags in alleys and second-hand stores.

pparsons@postmedia.com

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