The Crown is seeking one year in jail for a man convicted of child abduction, and house arrest for his female accomplice.
One year may not seem like much, but as the defence put it, “it wasn’t like someone was grabbed off the street and thrown in a van.”
In fact, the victim in this case was the instigator—a teenage girl wanting to ditch her group home and leave the province.
She hatched the plan two years ago with the help of her mom’s former partner, 75-year-old Will Crockwell, and his friend, 65-year-old Erin Bast.
The attempt triggered a rare Amber Alert in the province, yet neither called police and Crockwell actually lied to them.
His only defence was that the girl’s pleas to escape her situation “broke his heart.”
Nonetheless, the Crown said it was “outrageous behavior” for adults to help her run away, noting “people have opinions of the system but you can’t take the law into your own hands.”
The defence is seeking between eight and 14 months’ house arrest for Crockwell, while there’s consent on eight months’ house arrest for Bast.
Erin Bast (VOCM News)
Sentencing is set for August.
But Crockwell is also accused of other disturbing behavior.
Charges of accessing, making and possessing child pornography against him will be called on Friday.
