Mom gets seven years behind bars for abusing two kids
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2021 (1126 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A cognitively challenged woman who sexually abused two of her children may have been manipulated by a man she had just met on a dating website, but she still knew what she was doing was wrong, a judge said Friday before sentencing her to seven years in prison.
“I accept that due to her low mental abilities, the accused is easily manipulated by other people, but I do not accept that the lack of cognitive ability in any way excuses or explains (her) participation in these sexual offences,” said Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Doug Abra.
The 37-year-old woman, who has an IQ of 65, cannot be named to protect the identities of her children.
In 2017, co-accused Justyn Friesen was sentenced to six years in prison in a case that went to the Supreme Court of Canada and redefined how courts should deal with offenders who sexually abuse children.
The high court ruled sentences handed to child sex offenders should increase in recognition of the long-lasting harm their crimes cause victims.
The woman pleaded guilty in May 2019 to two counts of sexual interference, but failed to appear in court for her sentencing the following December. The woman was rearrested last July and taken into custody. Another sentencing hearing set for last month was adjourned after she fired her lawyer and hired a new one.
“It is clear to me that in committing these offences the accused… knew the consequences she faced, pleaded guilty, but then tried to dodge sentencing by not appearing in court,” Abra said.
The woman, who was 31 at the time, connected with Friesen on a dating website on June 29, 2016, and quickly arranged to meet at her home for sex.
During two subsequent meetings at her home, the woman agreed to Friesen’s demands that she sexually assault her one-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.
“She knew Friesen was taking advantage of her, but she did nothing to resist,” Abra said.
The assault on the girl was interrupted after a friend of the accused woman was awakened by her screams and ordered Friesen out of the house.
The Crown had recommended the woman serve eight years in prison.
While Friesen was convicted of assaulting only the woman’s daughter, “I recognize that (he) was the instigator of the sexual assaults on both children,” the judge said. “Therefore, the sentence that I impose on the accused should not be significantly higher than the one imposed on Friesen.”
As part of the woman’s sentence, she is to have no contact with her children while in custody and is prohibited from communicating with any children under the age of 16 for 20 years.
dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca
Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter
Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.