EDMONTON - An Edmonton man who terrorized, insulted, stalked and threatened his neighbours for years was sentenced to 18 months of probation Wednesday.
Robert Joseph Girard, 48, carried out a bizarre, aggressive feud with his neighbours in the Griesbach neighbourhood for more than four years, according to an agreed statement of facts.
Girard piled snow on yards adjacent to his home, pointed to neighbours randomly and gave them the middle finger, made sexual gestures toward them, took photos of them when they went outside and pressed his underwear-clad body against the inside of his windows for them to see. Girard also followed neighbours to their workplaces and filed complaints against them to their bosses. He yelled “child abuser” and “coward” at them in public. He threatened to punt a neighbour’s dog like a football.
Girard also wore a cow costume and made “mooing” sounds at a female neighbour when she stepped outside her home. At times, he was seen putting his hands down his pants and touching himself in full view of the neighbourhood.
“It would be better if you walked on the other side of the street,” Girard told one neighbour. “Yours is coming, yours is coming. I’m going to get you.”
Girard’s behaviour was aimed at both adults and children who lived nearby, court heard.
Neighbour William Brown, a city firefighter, told court his family didn’t use their front yard or porch because they were afraid. When shovelling snow, Brown was careful not to turn his back to Girard’s property.
“We lost that part of our home,” Brown said. “He left our family in fear. There was a constant tirade of abusive comments and gestures. For years, all we asked for was that Robert Girard leave us alone.”
Sheila Brown said she drove home from work each day with a pounding heart and a death-grip on her steering wheel, scared that Girard would be outside before she could pull into her garage.
“He has tormented our family,” she wrote in a statement to court.
The Browns had to coach their children to walk away from Girard should he ever approach them.
William Brown told court that Girard filed so many complaints against him to the fire department that his superiors began to worry for his safety. Eventually, in September 2011, Girard was arrested at the fire department’s headquarters.
In addition to the 18 months probation, in which he cannot contact his neighbours in anyway, Girard spent three weeks in jail before he was granted bail. He pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal harassment. He was also ordered to remain fully clothed near his windows, submit a DNA sample, abstain from alcohol and drugs and not own any pets. Girard was also barred from contacting William Brown’s boss in the fire department.
Girard, a divorced father, spent 21 years in the military before being given a medical discharge in 2003 for post-traumatic stress disorder, his lawyer Ajaje Yaggey said. The lawyer also told court his client has a thyroid condition.
“Under this condition, erratic behaviour is not unusual,” Yaggey said.
Court heard that Girard’s vendetta against the neighbourhood began with a minor dispute between him and Brown in 2007.
“I’m sorry for all that happened,” Girard told court. “I just felt that people were picking on me and I picked back.”
Court heard that Girard has put his home up for sale.
Provincial court Judge Larry Anderson told Girard he was “putting him on notice” that there would be legal consequences if he broke his conditions and contacted his neighbours in any way.
“You have to put these resentments behind you,” Anderson said. “It’s time to move forward in a constructive way. I hope you’ve come to a realization about the horrible impact you’ve had on your neighbourhood.”
The Edmonton Journal