Summerside man sentenced to 18 months in jail for luring a minor
SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A Summerside man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for luring a minor.
Brandon Curtis Rogers, 24, pleaded responsible to the cost on Feb. 2 and was sentenced on the Summerside Regulation Courts on April 4.
The cost was introduced in opposition to Rogers after it was found he had been exchanging sexual Snapchat messages on the social media app with a then 14-year-old-girl. He was 20 when the messages began.
The size of the sentence was a joint advice between the Crown and Rogers’ lawyer. Choose Krista MacKay concurred that it was an applicable jail time period, although not one that’s frequent right here but for this sort of cost.
The joint advice and MacKay’s personal feedback instructed Rogers’ sentence was going to be longer than a lot of these beforehand imposed in P.E.I. for comparable prices. All referred to the landmark R v Friesen Supreme Courtroom of Canada ruling of 2020, which concluded that jail phrases for sexual crimes involving youngsters ought to be elevated to mirror society’s higher understanding of the long-term hurt these crimes have on victims.
“Beforehand you won’t have seen a sentence of 18 months in jail,” famous MacKay.
“Having a lot of these communications with youngsters is now going to end in harsher penalties than earlier to those instances (like R v Friesen) and the modifications within the laws that elevated the utmost sentence for a lot of these offences.
“The rationale for that’s as a result of we’re coping with the impression, on youngsters, of kid abuse – and that is primarily baby abuse,” she added.
In keeping with the agreed assertion of information offered in courtroom, Rogers and the sufferer met in early 2019 and began exchanging messages that turned sexual. He initially believed her to be 16, however she ultimately advised him she was 14.
The sufferer learn her personal impression assertion to the courtroom, through which she described the extreme long-term impression this example has had on her bodily and psychological well being – together with being blamed and disowned by a part of her household due to it.
“They kicked me out and advised me if I wished to partake in grownup actions, I’d have to just accept the grownup penalties,” she stated. “I used to be continuously blamed for these occasions and advised I owed the world an apology.”
Rogers additionally addressed the courtroom and expressed deep remorse for his behaviour.
“I’m very properly prepared to just accept the implications for the actions that I’ve carried out. I’m keen to undergo something to get assist, to be taught why I’ll have carried out the issues I’ve,” he stated.
Choose MacKay reiterated her hope that stronger jail phrases for crimes like it will assist drive dwelling the message that these sorts of exchanges between minors and adults are unacceptable to society and can be handled accordingly.
“A 14-year-old woman is a toddler. That’s what I believe individuals are not understanding right here – Mr. Rogers you aren’t the primary individual in his early 20s to come back earlier than me having the sort of interplay with a younger teenager, and it’s regarding to me that adults usually are not understanding {that a} 14-year-old woman is a toddler,” she stated.
“I believe a interval of 18 months in custody will not be opposite to the general public curiosity. It does ship a major message to different offenders of like-mind that the courtroom gained’t tolerate these sorts of incidents with youngsters any longer.”
Along with the jail time, Rogers will stay on probation for 3 years after his launch. Along with different restrictions, throughout that point he isn’t allowed to have contact with anybody beneath the age of 16, until they’re his baby or if there’s an grownup current who’s conscious of his conviction on this matter. He should additionally steer clear of the sufferer and anyplace she frequents, equivalent to her locations of labor or training.
