Protesters gathered on the steps of the Vernon Courts Monday, March 2, ahead of Curtis Sagmoen’s looming sentencing.
Women, clad in red garments, stand in solidarity for their missing and murdered Indigenous sisters.
Their chants of “gone but not forgotten,” rang out and could be heard from inside the courthouse, so loud that a judge ordered them to cease.
The North Okanagan man, accused of assaulting a sex worker and causing bodily harm, was scheduled to hear his sentencing March 2, but according to the court lists, a date was to be fixed in his case. Yet neither Sagmoen, or his lawyer Lisa Helps, appeared Monday. Now, Sagmoen is scheduled to appear Tuesday, March 3, at 2 p.m. (the Morning Star went to print prior to this time.)
The 39-year-old was found guilty Feb. 11 — the second time in two months.
This conviction relates to an incident that took place Aug. 10, 2017, when Curtis Sagmoen invited an escort to his Salmon River Road property.
In her testimony on Monday, Feb. 10, the escort – a woman and the complainant in the trial whose name is protected by a publication ban – said Sagmoen hit her with his ATV while she was on his property, causing her to suffer a concussion, a fractured tailbone and road rash, among other injuries.
The ruling from B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill was followed by cheers and a round of applause from protesters in the gallery, who held a rally on the courthouse steps that morning, as they’ve done consistently over the course of Sagmoen’s recent trials.
The tentative sentencing date has been rescheduled to April 17, 2020.
Miranda Dick was one of the approximately 20 protesters at the courthouse.
“We plan on being here and staying here until we actually see justice,” Dick said.
“Previously, he (Sagmoen) has actually never served any time for being convicted other than being held.”
In December, Sagmoen was found guilty of threatening a different sex worker with a firearm in August 2017. He was released on those charges on time served, but given 36 months probation with strict conditions including a ban from soliciting sex trade workers and visiting websites that advertise those types of services.
Sagmoen had already served two years and two months in prison awaiting his trial.
In an unrelated case stemming from a 2013 incident in Maple Ridge, Sagmoen pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two years’ probation in Feb. 2019.
In the fall of 2017, Sagmoen’s family property became the subject of an extensive search and the remains of 18-year-old Traci Genereaux were discovered.
No charges have been laid in connection with Genereaux’s death.
READ MORE: Curtis Sagmoen found guilty of assaulting escort
READ MORE: Escort recounts frightening story in Vernon Sagmoen trial
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