The BC Court of Appeal has overturned the sentence of a Fort St. John veterinarian who pled guilty to sexual assault.
In July, the Crown appealed Justin Sewell’s sentence before a panel of the BC Court of Appeal. Tuesday, the Appeal Court sentenced Sewell to federal prison time of 33 months less one day.
The Appeal Court has now imposed consecutive jail sentences of two years less a day on the sexual assault count, six months on one of the voyeurism counts, and three months on the other.
Judge David Simpkin originally sentenced Sewell to house arrest for two years less a day on three charges, in connection to a 2007 sexual assault in Charlie Lake. Sewell pled guilty to one count of sexual assault and two counts of voyeurism.
Simpkin ruled those sentences be served concurrently and avoided sending Sewell to jail. The prosecution was looking for a 4.5-year sentence, that would have sent Sewell to federal prison.
The judge also allowed the veterinarian to keep going to work at the Rivers Animal Hospital on a daily basis.
But the Appeals Court said Judge Simpkin was wrong in imposing concurrent sentences. The ruling said, “the judge erred in failing to consider the distinct legal interests violated by the voyeurism offences and the fact that one of the voyeurism offences arose from a different incident from that underlying the sexual assault and the other voyeurism offence.”
Judge Simpkin also erred in failing to consider whether, in light of those factors, a penitentiary term was excluded as a cumulative sentence before determining the appropriateness of a conditional sentence order.
In appealing Judge Simpkin’s decision, the Crown said, ”the judge erred in principle by overstating the mitigating effect of the respondent’s confession and allowing it to overwhelm the analysis, imposing concurrent sentences that fail to account for the distinct harm caused by the voyeurism offences, and making the sentences concurrent for the purpose of preserving the availability of a conditional sentence order.”
During the trial the court heard, while his wife and children were away, Sewell surreptitiously added ketamine or Valium to the victim’s drink, rendering her incapacitated. Sewell then sexually assaulted her and took photographs of her naked body.
The court also heard that Sewell offered to provide a safe space for the victim to get drunk, thereby placing himself in a position of trust towards her, which he then abused. Testimony in court also said the sexual assault was prolonged and involved invasive, violative, and demeaning conduct while the victim was in her own home, a place she should have been safe.
When Sewell’s sentence was announced, there was strong reaction online. Many people said the sentence was a light one, that amounted to a ‘slap on the wrist.’