GRAPHIC WARNING: This article contains details that readers may find disturbing.
A man who admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old Edmonton girl will be sentenced Wednesday afternoon.
Wade Stein pleaded guilty earlier this year to pulling a young girl into his vehicle as she drove home and assaulting her before dropping her off back in March 2020.
The girl cannot be named because of a publication ban protecting her identity.
During a two-day sentencing hearing, Stein’s attorney, Mark Jordan, asked for a sentence of 10 years in prison minus 1,318 days served with credit.
Jordan alleged that Stein had a troubled past, no prior criminal record, and was emotionally traumatized by protests outside his home while he was out on bail in the victim’s neighborhood in June 2020.
Stein asked for his bond to be revoked because he felt he was safer in jail, according to Jordan, who asked the judge to take that into consideration when deciding on an appropriate sentence.
“He was a sitting duck under house arrest,” Jordan said during the hearing.
Crown prosecutors Keith Nichols and Joanna Korabian asked for a 20-year prison sentence.
The Crown argued that Steyn’s release had a significant impact on the community and the outrage that led to protests outside his home was “justifiable and foreseeable”.
The Crown also argued that the attack on the child was premeditated.
Nichols said Stein actually had a “rape kit” on hand, pointing out that he wore a mask, had duct tape with him and was lowered down and covered with a blanket.
“How is 20 years extreme?” Nichols asked. “How do we justify a 10-year sentence?”
As the sentencing hearing wrapped up Tuesday, Stene was offered a chance to speak.
Steyn apologized to the child’s family for his “evil” actions and asked for forgiveness as he tried to convince them he was remorseful.
“I felt remorse during the act and that made me stop,” Stene told them.
The child’s aunt later sent a statement to CTV News.
“It was incredibly difficult to hear my niece’s rapist speak, to see him look us in the eye and say he was remorseful during the ‘action,'” she wrote.
“If Wade Stein gets the sentence he wants, his victim will be 16 years old after his release. The court has a responsibility to make child sexual abuse a very serious crime with very serious consequences. Anything less would be an insult to everything we’ve been through.”
The aunt said she believes forgiveness is possible, even though it doesn’t seem possible right now.
Stene’s sentencing is due at 3 p.m
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