Crown seeks 4½ years in prison for man who pleaded guilty in child porn case
Lawyers presented their sentencing arguments Friday for Aarron Kowalchuk, a 35-year-old man who pleaded guilty in June to making child pornography and luring.
In the Court of King's Bench in Edmonton, Crown prosecutor Jonathan Avey argued for a 4½-year prison sentence, citing multiple aggravating factors including the young age of the children, the volume of images and the severity of abuse.
Kowalchuk's defence lawyer, Rory Ziv, is seeking a sentence of 2½ years, with 47½ months — just shy of four years — credit, meaning his client would avoid additional in custody.
"It turns my stomach to think of viewing those things, but I think for the process, I'm going to have to deal with that," said Justice Lynn Michele Angotti, before calling a recess to view hundreds of items depicting child sexual abuse that was found on Kowalchuk's phone.
Alberta's Internet Child Exploitation unit, which is part of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), arrested and charged Kowalchuk on Feb. 16, 2023.
In addition to the sexual abuse material on his phone, court heard Kowalchuk, 35, had dated a 13-year-old and told a 15-year-old in an online chat that he had had sex with two minors. Then, in November 2022, Kowalchuk had exchanged messages with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-year old girl.
On Thursday, Kowalchuk told Angotti that he is remorseful and apologized to the victims and their families.
On Friday, Ziv's argument for a lighter sentence cited entries in Kowalchuk's diary, which alleged harsh treatment by guards and long periods in administrative or restricted segregation, where he was often denied the minimum time required out of his cell.
Avey, however, argued that records from the Edmonton Remand Centre showed, out of Kowalchuk's 604 days there, there were only seven during which he was denied his allotted out-of-cell time — and that it was due to operational issues.
The prosecutor also pointed to testimony from Curtis Miller, a guard in Kowalchuk's unit who described him as quiet and said he couldn't recall ever having an issue with him.
Ziv agreed that Kowalchuk's moral responsibility is high, but noted he had no previous criminal record and has been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
The Crown has challenged that diagnosis.
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Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Ajax man caught dealing drugs in Sudbury to serve rest of sentence behind bars
Stephen Malabre-Patrick argued he should be released now because of poor conditions at Sudbury Jail Harold Carmichael Published Jun 07, 2025 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 3 minute read A southern Ontario drug dealer has failed to convince a Sudbury judge he should be released early because of poor conditions at Sudbury Jail. A southern Ontario drug dealer has failed to convince a Sudbury judge he should be released early because of poor conditions at Sudbury Jail. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Instead, Ontario Court Justice Martin Lambert ruled that Stephen Malabre-Patrick of Ajax will need to finish his sentence for drug trafficking in jail. Malabre-Patrick's lawyer argued his client should be given time-served credit because of poor conditions at Sudbury Jail, such as overcrowding and lockdowns, and be released now. Now 33, Malabre-Patrick pleaded guilty to cocaine possession for the purpose of trafficking and conspiracy to traffic controlled substances. He was one of six southern Ontario people police officers busted in 2023 for drug trafficking in Sudbury. The Crown and defence lawyer Thomas Evangelista agreed Malabre-Patrick should receive a sentence of two years less a day. The only thing to be determined was how much pre-trial custody he should get. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Crown argued Malabre-Patrick should receive the typical 1.5-1 so-called Summers pre-trial custody credit. Summers credit refers to the practice of a sentencing judge reducing a sentence for the time an individual spent in pre-trial custody. It's based on the principle that time served before a trial or plea may be considered in determining the final sentence, reflecting that the individual has already endured some of the potential consequences of their actions. As a result, a judge can subtract 1.5 days from the sentence for every day spent in pre-sentence custody. Evangelista, however, said his client should also receive a Duncan credit due to poor conditions at Sudbury Jail. If granted, Malabre-Patrick would be released immediately. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A Duncan credit allows a judge to award additional credit for time spent in pre-trial custody beyond the standard 1.5:1 ratio when 'particularly harsh' conditions of detention are present. Justice Lambert, however, didn't buy that argument. He ruled Malabre-Patrick was entitled only to the 1.5-1 Summers pre-trial custody credit. Lambert noted that sentences for drug trafficking often involve penitentiary terms, meaning two years or more in a federal jail. 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After 44 days in custody following his arrest, Malabre-Patrick got bail with strict conditions that included house arrest. He breached those conditions and was back in custody in Oshawa on Aug. 5, 2024, and has remained in custody since. As a result of the two guilty pleas, the Crown dropped other charges Malabre-Patrick was facing. hcarmichael@ X; @HaroldCarmichae Olympics Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto & GTA
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Prolific B.C. drunk driver could face deportation after dozens of driving bans over 30 years
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But the judge refused to lighten Bajwa's sentence on convictions for impaired and prohibited driving to a level that wouldn't have immigration consequences for the 57-year-old. Any sentence over six months can result in deportation from Canada. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'To accede to Mr. Bajwa's request for a (conditional sentence) or a reduction of the jail time on either count for the impact of the collateral immigration consequences to Mr. Bajwa and as a remedy (for breaching his Charter right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure), would bring the administration of justice into disrepute and result in an inappropriate and artificial sentence; in other words, an unfit sentence,' Judge David Patterson of B.C.'s provincial court wrote in a recent decision. Bajwa immigrated to Canada from India's Punjab region over 34 years ago. 'He received his first British Columbia driving prohibition on March 19, 1993,' said the judge. 'He has also accumulated a substantial number of additional Criminal Code convictions and Motor Vehicle Act infractions.' 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The court heard Bajwa 'has no one in India' and that he's in the process of getting a divorce 'as his alcohol usage ruined his relationship with his estranged wife and his children,' said the judge, who noted they live in Canada. Eight days after he was caught drunk driving in May of 2022, Bajwa 'was very intoxicated at his daughter's wedding and smacked a plate of food out of her hand,' said the decision. 'He was subsequently convicted of assault … and handed a 60-day jail sentence followed by an 18-month probation order, which included having no contact with his estranged wife or children.' That was 'the last straw for the family, essentially,' said the decision. Bajwa 'claims that his problems with alcohol started when he was a roofer,' it said. 'He had a group of co-workers and they would often go drinking alcohol together. His alcohol consumption spiralled out of control.' 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A country that now may be as foreign to him as Canada was when Mr. Bajwa immigrated to Canada.' After considering the Charter breach, Patterson sentenced Bajwa to 198 days (just over six months) in jail for the impaired driving conviction, fined him $2,000 and banned him from driving for three years. For driving while prohibited, the judge handed Bajwa another 120 days behind bars (about four months) to be served consecutively, for a total of about 10 months in jail. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Montreal Gazette
2 days ago
- Montreal Gazette
McGill Ghetto murder trial: ‘I was dealing with all sorts of evil'
By François Pelletier, the man on trial for the murder of 24-year-old Romane Bonnier, ran out of time Friday before he could tell the jury hearing his case about the day of the brutal slaying in the McGill Ghetto more than three years ago. Friday was Pelletier's third day on the witness stand in a first-degree murder trial at the Montreal courthouse, where the 39-year-old is acting as his own lawyer. His testimony has been confusing, full of unfinished thoughts and asides on pop culture references he appears to be fixated on. When he brought up Brave New World, the book by Aldous Huxley, yet again late Friday afternoon, Superior Court Justice François Dadour abruptly called it a day. The judge noted he had asked the jury to stay an extra 45 minutes with the hope Pelletier would reach the end of his testimony in principle before the weekend. Instead, Pelletier is expected to testify on Monday about Oct. 19, 2021, the day he stabbed Bonnier 26 times in front of several stunned witnesses. He will then be cross-examined by either prosecutor Louis Bouthillier or prosecutor Marianna Ferraro. The Crown's theory of the case is earlier in 2021, Pelletier met Bonnier after she placed an ad seeking a roommate to share the apartment she was already living in, and they had a brief relationship after he moved in. It did not end well and, on Oct. 19, 2021, he killed the woman who dreamed of being an actor on Broadway. The jury has heard evidence Bonnier put a quick end to the relationship and, on Sept. 1, 2021, Pelletier moved out of the apartment as had already been planned. On Friday, Pelletier said September was difficult for him as he rented a room to start, but he couldn't take the noise there and ended up moving in with a friend on Oct. 1. 'In late September, I'm still trying to figure (the breakup) out,' he said, adding he was having nightmares in which he killed Bonnier. 'I was dealing with all sorts of evil. 'Towards the end, I was trying to tell (Bonnier) that I was not well.' Pelletier said Bonnier ignored many text messages he sent to her and she asked him to 'stop harassing her' after he met her mother and asked her to tell Bonnier to read his messages. 'She finally did agree to give me a last 30 minutes in her presence. I was like, that sounds like a fair deal, right,' Pelletier told the jury. 'We actually did meet, on Oct. 11, (2021) on McGill (University's) campus. At that point, I was in a rather rough shape, but I showed up. I had been requesting this meeting and I was getting it. At that point, I was deeply immersed into this different interpretation of things. I had been cooking in it for weeks now.' Pelletier said he and Bonnier sat on a bench for the conversation and it was clear 'Romane had moved on.' 'She was not just like a girl to me, she was like my twin flame,' he said. 'I was thinking about her all the time.' Before he described the meeting at the university campus, he told the jury about a scene from the movie Dude, Where's My Car?, a goofball comedy starring actor Ashton Kutcher. Pelletier said he compared his inability to communicate with Bonnier, through text messages, to a scene in the movie where 'these two idiots' are unable to understand each other. 'So there we were. I didn't get any of my answers, no explanation,' Pelletier said. 'I was not expecting Romane to tell me what I wanted to hear or anything specific. I just wanted her to tell me ... I don't know exactly what I wanted her to tell me. 'I chose not to ask her at all (about their relationship). We talked about a bunch of stuff. Essentially, it was just back and forth and then I went away from there.' Pelletier said before they parted ways that day he gave Bonnier a hug. 'It was like hugging a corpse, really,' he said. 'I was in bad shape already and that (hug) was bad.' Pelletier added the last words Bonnier told him before she walked away was: 'Have fun.'
