Sentence reduction denied for abusive mom
New Brunswick Court of Appeal finds 9½-year prison term was reasonable and fit
Warning: This story includes graphic descriptions of extreme child abuse.
A lower court’s decision to impose a prison term a year longer than what the Crown recommended for an abusive mother didn’t represent an error in law, the province’s top court ruled last week.
A 35-year-old Fredericton woman who pleaded guilty last year to inflicting severe abuse and torture on one of her daughters and assaulting two of her other children in 2022 was sentenced in provincial court last summer to 9½ years in prison for her horrific crimes.
The sentence Judge Natalie LeBlanc imposed was one year more than the 8½-year term the Crown had recommended, so defence counsel filed a notice of appeal.
It argued the sentencing judge should have afforded the prosecution and defence an opportunity to present additional submissions before disregarding the suggestions offered by both sides.