The Crown is recommending an 8-month jail sentence for Father Janko Kolosnjaji, a Ukrainian Catholic priest in Saskatoon. The 71-year-old was found guilty in February of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and sentencing is scheduled for this fall.

Kolosnjaji kissed the teen two years ago at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral of St. George in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.

Prosecutor Sheryl Fillo argued for an eight-month jail sentence followed by probation, no contact with the victim or her family, and counselling.

“This was, for the victim, her first kiss,” Fillo said.

Fillo said the victim was a refugee from war-torn Ukraine and extremely vulnerable … and he would have known it.”

In a statement, her mother said that the assault involved a person in a position of authority.