Summerside man sentenced to 18 months in jail for luring a minor

SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A Summerside gentleman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for luring a minimal.

Brandon Curtis Rogers, 24, pleaded guilty to the demand on Feb. 2 and was sentenced at the Summerside Law Courts on April 4.

The cost was brought towards Rogers soon after it was identified he had been exchanging sexual Snapchat messages on the social media application with a then 14-12 months-aged-lady. He was 20 when the messages started out.

The duration of the sentence was a joint recommendation between the Crown and Rogers’ law firm. Decide Krista MacKay concurred that it was an ideal jail phrase, even though not a single that is frequent right here nonetheless for this form of charge.

The joint recommendation and MacKay’s possess reviews instructed Rogers’ sentence was heading to be more time than a lot of of these formerly imposed in P.E.I. for identical rates. All referred to the landmark R v Friesen Supreme Court of Canada ruling of 2020, which concluded that jail terms for sexual crimes involving small children really should be enhanced to reflect society’s better being familiar with of the prolonged-term damage these crimes have on victims.

“Previously you may possibly not have witnessed a sentence of 18 months in jail,” mentioned MacKay. 

“Having these varieties of communications with children is now going to end result in harsher penalties than previous to these cases (like R v Friesen) and the improvements in the legislation that increased the highest sentence for these forms of offences.

“The rationale for that is for the reason that we’re working with the effects, on little ones, of boy or girl abuse – and this is primarily little one abuse,” she included.

According to the agreed statement of info introduced in court docket, Rogers and the target satisfied in early 2019 and started off exchanging messages that turned sexual. He in the beginning considered her to be 16, but she inevitably instructed him she was 14.

The target study her individual effect assertion to the court, in which she described the severe very long-expression effects this circumstance has had on her actual physical and mental wellness – together with staying blamed and disowned by part of her household for the reason that of it.

“They kicked me out and told me if I required to partake in adult functions, I’d have to acknowledge the grownup repercussions,” she stated. “I was frequently blamed for these functions and explained to I owed the globe an apology.”

Rogers also dealt with the courtroom and expressed deep regret for his behaviour.

“I am extremely well completely ready to accept the effects for the steps that I’ve carried out. I’m ready to go by something to get help, to study why I may possibly have finished the factors I have,” he explained.

Choose MacKay reiterated her hope that more powerful jail conditions for crimes like this will aid push household the concept that these sorts of exchanges between minors and older people are unacceptable to society and will be dealt with accordingly.

“A 14-12 months-outdated female is a boy or girl. Which is what I imagine folks are not knowledge below – Mr. Rogers you are not the initial human being in his early 20s to arrive prior to me getting this sort of interaction with a young teenager, and it is about to me that adults are not being familiar with that a 14-yr-outdated lady is a youngster,” she claimed.

“I assume a interval of 18 months in custody is not opposite to the community interest. It does deliver a substantial information to other offenders of like-brain that the courtroom will not tolerate these forms of incidents with young children any longer.”

In addition to the jail time, Rogers will stay on probation for three several years right after his release. In addition to other constraints, all through that time he is not allowed to have speak to with everyone less than the age of 16, except they are his youngster or if there is an grownup existing who is aware of his conviction on this make a difference. He must also continue to be away from the victim and everywhere she frequents, these kinds of as her sites of function or instruction.