Warning: some readers may find the following disturbing
A judge is deliberating the sentence for a man who pleaded guilty to having sex with an 11-year-old girl in what his defence lawyer called an “ugly” set of facts.
Rick Allen, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault on Jan. 9 in Penticton Provincial Court.
Allen, who was diagnosed with ADHD and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, met the young girl online through the dating website Plenty of Fish.
On Feb. 3, 2014 the mother of the victim phoned the RCMP reporting her daughter missing after she had snuck out of the house.
Tracking the girl’s cell phone, police and the girl’s uncle were able to locate her at a south Penticton residence where Allen’s roommate answered, indicating the girl was inside.
The girl told police the two had sex at Allen’s residence after going for a walk that night.
Both of Allen’s roommates told police they believed the girl was 18 after talking to her briefly, and a paediatrician’s report indicated she looked older for her age, noting she could pass for 15 or 16.
The girl, who cannot be identified due to a routine publication ban protecting the victim’s identity, had posed as an 18-year-old single mother with a young child online and in person with Allen. However, after the two met up, Crown pointed out that Allen began to have suspicions about her age as the girl was worried about getting caught for sneaking out, and was reluctant to talk about her supposed child.
Allen told police after his arrest: “She told me she was 18.”
A psychiatric report stated Allen has no sexual attraction to children and in the report Allen said he was “shocked to know her actual age.”
Allen has no prior criminal record.
Crown counsel Nashina Devji asked for a sentence of nine to 12 months in jail with two years probation. Defence counsel James Pennington asked for a lesser sentence of 90 days intermittent jail time with 18 months probation, calling it “an ugly case.”
Both Crown and defence noted a complete lack of legal precedents relating to the circumstances, which caused Judge Meg Shaw to adjourn the sentencing to deliberate.
The case goes to the judicial case manager’s office on Jan. 16 to set a future date for sentencing.
