Defence argues against jail for sex crime
Donald Stephen Crawford, 77, of Fredericton, touched 12-year-old girl’s breast, kissed her last year; his lawyer argues mandatory jail term for offence is unconstitutional
An elderly Fredericton man who touched a 12-year-old girl’s breast and kissed her last year asked a court to spare him a jail term and to impose a period of house arrest instead.
Donald Stephen Crawford, 77, of Kings College Road, appeared before Fredericton provincial court Judge Natalie LeBlanc on Friday for a sentencing hearing.
He’d previously admitted to a summary count of sexual interference stemming from an incident during which he touched a minor for a sexual purpose.
Court heard previously that on May 1, 2022, Crawford had touched a 12-year-old girl’s breast over her clothing and had kissed her.
There’s a court-ordered publication ban protecting the girl’s identity.
Crawford isn’t related to the victim, but was rather a friend of the family, court heard.
The Criminal Code of Canada prescribes a mandatory minimum sentence of 90 days in jail for such summary offences, and that’s what prosecutor Rebecca Butler was seeking as a penalty in the case.
But defence lawyer Patrick Hurley had filed a Charter application with the court, arguing the mandatory minimum was unconstitutional and violated his clients rights.
Higher courts throughout Canada have been striking down mandatory-minimum sentences in several key precedents in recent years.
Hurley said summary charges of sexual interference cover a wide array of violations, and while they’re all serious, he argued his client’s conduct was at the lower end of the scale.
Mandatory minimum sentences deprive courts of the discretion they need to fashion appropriate sentences given specific circumstances of each crime and of each offender.
They take other sentencing options - such as conditional sentences served in the community - out of judges’ hands, he said, which means some offenders can’t be sentenced fairly.
“There’s levels of seriousness,” Hurley said, noting Crawford poses an extremely low risk to reoffend.
His client is elderly and has several medical issues, the defence lawyer said, and he’s effectively become a recluse in his own home. He further pointed out the offender’s spouse of many decades died recently.
Incarceration isn’t necessary in Crawford’s case, Hurley said, noting a conditional sentence of house arrest has been shown to have a deterrent effect, and it still takes away some of an offender’s freedoms.
The offender has no prior criminal record whatsoever, Hurley said, and his crime was an isolated one, not conduct that was perpetrated repeatedly.
“It wasn’t an ongoing type of violation in this case,” he said.
Hurley also opposed a mandatory 10-year order under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) for his client, arguing it served no purpose.
Crawford’s movements are limited, he said, and the police would have no trouble in finding him should they have questions.
“I’m very sorry and remorseful,” the offender told the court, reading from a short written statement Friday.
“It’s totally out of character. I take full responsibility, and nothing like this will ever happen again.”
‘Denunciation and deterrence is paramount’
Butler argued the constitutional question is moot, because even if a mandatory sentence is a Charter violation, a three-month stint behind bars is an appropriate sentence in the circumstances of this case.
The Supreme Court of Canada has noted that all sexual offences are violent crimes, she said, and the age of the victim in the case is an aggravating factor that merits incarceration.
The victim, her sister and their mother all filed victim-impact statements with the court, and Butler pointed to how the family reports how deeply they’ve been affected by Crawford’s actions.
“They don’t trust people, they’re scared of people,” she said, noting they also report trouble sleeping.
A 90-day jail term is proportionate given the specific facts of the case, the prosecutor argued.
“Denunciation and deterrence is paramount,” Butler said.
In addition to the jail sentence, she asked the court to impose a two-year term of probation, during which Crawford could have no contact with the victim or her family, and that he undergo any evaluation or course of treatment deemed appropriate by a probation officer.
The prosecutor noted there’s a mandatory DNA order for such crimes, and she asked the court to impose a 10-year SOIRA order as directed by the Criminal Code.
Furthermore, Butler said the court should consider an additional order that would limit Crawford’s access to children or public places where kids are normally found.
LeBlanc reserved her decision on sentence to Feb. 16.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.