PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia, May 4 (UPI) -- Former British Columbia judge David Ramsay, 61, plead guilty to several counts of assault and paying girls as young as 12 for sex.
Ramsay plead guilty Monday to three counts of buying sex from minors, one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm and one count of breach of trust relating to the duties of his office, the Globe and Mail reported. He entered the surprise plea minutes into a trial that was expected to last for weeks.
For more than 10 years, Ramsay abused four aboriginal women who were 16 or younger at the time of the assaults and allegedly smashed the head of one girl on the dash of his car, causing her to bleed after she asked him to use a condom. The girl later recognized Ramsay when she appeared before his bench as a witness in an unrelated case. In other cases, Ramsay slapped the girls and threatened one with death.
All the girls had at one time appeared in Ramsay's court. Ramsay will be sentenced June 1, and prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail sentence. Ramsay was appointed to the bench in 1992.
