Exec pampered herself on support agency’s dime
Karen J. Goodyear, 46, formerly of Hoyt, granted conditional sentence of house arrest for using employer’s credit card for clothes, salon appointments and groceries
A business manager for a military support agency treated herself to some online shopping and salon appointments on the organization’s credit card to the tune of more than $7,000.
But court heard Wednesday her thieving actions flowed from compounding traumas - from a group sexual assault during her time in the Canadian Forces to her deteriorating marriage.
Goodyear, 46, formerly of Hoyt but now living on Westminster Drive in Quispamsis, appeared in Fredericton provincial court Wednesday for a sentencing hearing.
She’d been charged with two counts - stealing from and defrauding the Gagetown Military Family Resource Centre (GMFRC) between Jan. 1, 2017, and Jan. 31, 2020.
Goodyear pleaded guilty to the theft count earlier this year.
The Crown and defence offered a joint recommendation on sentence - a conditional sentence of seven months, to be served under house arrest - which Judge Mary Jane Richards accepted.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Bueno said the defendant had been working as the business manager for GMFRC for more than a decade, but in February 2020, its executive director reported to police that Goodyear had been bilking the organization.
Goodyear’s boss had noticed the balance on the GMFRC credit card that she used didn’t add up, court heard, and while she kept asking her business manager to show her copies of the card statements, she kept giving excuses for her inability to produce them.
Suspicious charges were found on the card, Bueno said, and as a result, the executive director hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation, and she arranged for a forensic audit.
The investigation discovered Goodyear had charged groceries at Sobeys to a GMFRC account, she said.
It was also found that Goodyear had charged more than $6,000 worth of clothing to the credit card while shopping online at an Alberta business called Sweet Jolie in 2018, court heard.
The defendant also charged three salon appointments at Platinum Salon + Spa in Oromocto, the prosecutor said, noting two were for a haircut and colour and one was a manicure.
“The appointments took place during working hours,” Bueno said.
Also charged to the card, she said, were several online purchases made from Saje Natural Wellness, which sold and shipped such products as essential oils.
The online purchases were associated to an email account in Goodyear’s name, Bueno said, and they were shipped to her home.
All told, Goodyear charged $7,218.24 for items and services for herself, she said.
“These personal purchases had never been disclosed to the centre,” the prosecutor said, noting Goodyear never tried to reimburse it either.
The aggravating factors in the case, Bueno said, include the amount stolen, the length of time over which Goodyear committed the crime and most importantly, the breach of an employer’s trust.
But there are a number of mitigating factors for the court to consider as well, she said.
Among them are Goodyear’s guilty plea, positive pre-sentence report, remorse, her willingness to pay restitution, efforts to address her issues through counselling and the fact that she’s a single mother to two school-aged children.
Trauma during military career
Defence lawyer Robert Digdon also emphasized that his client is a first-time offender.
“She’s never been in trouble with the law ever before,” he said.
Goodyear’s behaviour was out of character, he said.
“There was some major mental-health, emotional-health issues going on,” the defence lawyer said, noting that at the relevant time, she didn’t know how to get help to deal with those issues.
Digdon noted Goodyear joined the Canadian Forces after 1½ years in university, and she thrived in the military - but then came the trauma that led her to leave.
“She was the victim of a vicious sexual assault by six individuals,” he said, noting Goodyear was honourably discharged from the military following that incident.
His client is party to a civil action from which she’s expecting to receive damages soon, he said.
“She did not seek [psychological] help,” Digdon said, noting she’s a strong individual who didn’t think she needed it.
Her husband was also ex-military but was medically discharged, the defence lawyer said, and he developed his own issues from past trauma, including substance abuse and a gambling addiction.
“She became his caregiver,” Digdon said, noting the marriage deteriorated from mounting pressure.
He said Goodyear’s theft was a cry for help.
“She is somewhat at a loss to explain why she could act that way,” the defence lawyer said.
Goodyear apologized to GMFRC, her family and friends.
She said she embarrassed herself and those around her.
“I was breaking down,” she said.
“I was completely losing myself and falling into a depression … I should have asked for help.”
She’s since sought counselling, court heard.
Goodyear said she had thoughts of harming herself and noted she probably wouldn’t still be around today if not for her kids.
“I assure you, I will never be in this courtroom again,” she told Richards.
The judge said precedents indicate that in cases of employee theft, time behind bars is called for, even for first-time offenders, in the absence of any exceptional circumstances.
But Goodyear’s background, trauma and personal pressures do amount to such exceptional circumstances, she said, and the fact the offender has been in therapy since October 2022 is encouraging.
Richards imposed a seven-month conditional sentence, to be served in the community under house arrest.
She’ll only be allowed to leave her residence for work, medical emergencies, treatment and counselling sessions, educational classes, scheduled activities for her children and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to attend to personal business.
The judge also noted that during that time, she’s to follow any course of treatment or counselling as directed by her sentence supervisor and to present herself at the door of her residence should authorities check on her compliance with the order.
After that, Goodyear will be on probation for 12 months, during which she’s to continue with counselling.
The judge also imposed a standalone order for restitution to GMFRC for $7,218.24, which the organization can move to enforce through the civil courts, and she ordered Goodyear to pay a victim-fine surcharge of $200.
Bueno withdrew the fraud charge.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.