GRAPHIC WARNING: This article contains details that readers may find disturbing.
Wade Stein, who admitted to kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old Edmonton girl, was sentenced to 15.5 years behind bars Wednesday afternoon.
Judge Susan Richardson handed down the sentence after a two-day sentencing hearing.
Stein’s sentence remains about 12 years after the judge gave him 1,313 days of time served.
Stein pleaded guilty earlier this year to pulling the young girl into his vehicle and sexually assaulting her before leaving her back in March 2020.
The girl cannot be named because of a publication ban protecting her identity.
Stein’s lawyer, Mark Jordan, asked for a 10-year prison sentence, while Crown prosecutors, Keith Nichols and Joanna Korabian, asked the judge for a 20-year sentence.
Jordan argued his sentencing recommendation was fair because 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 .
The Crown urged the judge not to consider those factors, in part because Steyn’s actions were so severe that his 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, noting that Stein actually had a “rape kit” on hand, pointing out how he wore a mask, had duct tape with him and was lowered down and covered with a blanket .
On Wednesday, the judge said Steyn’s crime was “planned, predatory and brazen”.
“Of course he intended it to happen. He did,” Judge Richardson said.
“His sexual abuse stopped only after his sexual satisfaction ended.”
In a statement to CTV News, the victim’s family said in part:
“It was difficult to hear the final result of the sentence handed down. No sentence would satisfy us, no amount of time would fully heal the damage done.”
Add Comment