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“There can be no doubt, on the Crown’s respectful submission, that this crime was premeditated.”
Wade Stein, charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor. Photo by provided
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Warning: this story contains details that some readers may find disturbing.
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An Edmonton man who admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl should get 20 years in prison, Crown prosecutors say.
Wade Stein pleaded guilty in February to charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and solicitation of sexual contact, admitting he pulled a complete stranger into his SUV and raped her on March 10, 2020.
Stein’s sentencing hearing began Monday. Crown prosecutor Keith Nicholls argued the 39-year-old should receive a 20-year sentence, calling the case “outstanding in its depravity”.
“There can be no doubt, on the Crown’s respectful submission, that this crime was premeditated,” Nicholls said. “(The girl) may not have been Mr. Stein’s intended victim, but there is little in the way of logical conclusion to suggest that he did not leave his home that day without the purpose of doing exactly what he did.”
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Defense attorney Mark Jordan argued that Stein should serve a 10-year sentence. He said the sentence would be appropriate in part given the “serious circumstances” of the crimes, the fact that Steyn has no criminal record and the impact of COVID-19 in prisons.
The girl, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, was represented in court by her parents and other relatives. Ten victim impact statements from family, friends and the family pastor were read to the court.
The girl’s mother said that after realizing her daughter was missing, she thought she might have been hurt and feared she might have been hurt in a hit-and-run.
“But the unimaginable was much worse than I thought,” she told the court. “To hear my daughter tell me she was raped broke me.”
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The girl’s father also read a victim impact statement in court. He called Steen “this despicable creature who hurt my little girl” and said he was wracked with guilt for not being able to protect his daughter.
Weeks after Steen was charged, police announced he was out on bond and released his photo and the general location of his mother’s house.
A group of protesters began a permanent demonstration outside the home, featuring obscenities directed at Stein, an open casket and members of outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Stene’s lawyer later filed a complaint over the disclosure, as well as videos of police dousing and punching demonstrators. The demonstrations ended when Stein decided to return to prison.
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Jordan asked the judge to consider the protests as a side effect of the sentence. In an affidavit written by Stein and read aloud in court by his lawyer, he described the impact of the protests.
Jordan read that in separate incidents, a woman barged into the residence asking where Stein was, objects were thrown at the home and lasers were pointed at the home.
“I feared for my safety and had trouble sleeping and feared that some of them would come into my residence and hurt or kill my mother and me,” Stein’s affidavit states.
In a victim impact statement read in court by one of the girl’s aunts, the aunt described how the family feared for the girl’s safety after Stene was out on bail and living near the girl’s home.
“On top of that, we were outraged by what felt like an incredible miscarriage of justice and we had no say, no power to change that,” she said.
The aunt said the protests at Stene’s house became loud, with signs and posters of Stene all over the neighborhood where the girl played.
“I drove past the protest site several times a day, removing all the pictures of my niece’s rapist that I could get my hands on so she wouldn’t have to see him again,” the aunt said. “I got threats when I did that.”
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue on Tuesday.
ajunker@postmedia.com
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