CORNER BROOK, N.L. — It all began with social media and text messages, going for drives and using drugs.
It led to them having sex.
Indications are intercourse only happened once, but the problem was Thomas Stanley Craig Young was 49 and the girl was 14.
That was not old enough to be able to consent to sexual activity of any sort with Young.
To make things worse, Young paid for the young girl’s services.
Last week, Young, who is now 52, was handcuffed in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook and taken away to commence a prison term for sexually assaulting a minor, touching her for a sexual purpose and paying her for sex.
He was also convicted of breaching a court order by having someone else be in the presence of a minor when that person was prohibited from doing so.
Earlier this week, Young, who was living in Stephenville Crossing at the time of the offences, was back in court to be sentenced. He was given a total of three years for those crimes, plus an additional three months for five unrelated fraud offences.
Crown attorney Susan Gallant acknowledged three years is generally considered the starting point for the sex offences. She noted Young’s guilty pleas meant the victim never had to come to court to testify and his only prior conviction was a theft that took place 26 years ago.
RELATED
- Stephenville Crossing man convicted of fraud pleads guilty to unrelated sex offences
- Judge says Stephenville Crossing man who cashed fraudulent cheque for more than $75,000 was willfully blind
Defence counsel Shelley Senior agreed with the range of sentence suggested by Gallant.
The teenager, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was not present in court for the proceedings. In a victim impact statement read into the record by a victim services worker, the girl expressed how disgusted she felt when Young touched her and how she is no longer the outgoing person she once was since her experience with Young.
The girl said she has developed post-traumatic stress disorder because of what happened. She constantly feels Young might be out looking for her, though there was no evidence he has ever tried to contact her since being charged.
Sometimes, she sleeps with a knife because that fear is so real for her.
She said she stopped caring for herself, began using heavy drugs, fell behind in school, was afraid to go anywhere on her own and still has vivid nightmares involving Young.
Fortunately, the court also heard the girl has been able to make great strides in her recovery since reporting Young to the police.
In addition to the sex crimes, Young was sentenced for fraud over $5,000 and four counts of possessing property obtained by crime. Those offences involved Young depositing a fraudulent cheque for more than $75,000 at a Stephenville bank before withdrawing some of that money to buy a truck and three snowmobiles.
The cheque had been sent to him as part of a scam but Young decided to cash it himself instead of sending the money back to the scammers as they had requested him to do.
As part of his decision, Murphy issued a restitution order in the amount of $58,435, which was the amount Young had withdrawn by the time the bank realized the crime.
An amount of $9,400 seized from Young’s home when he was arrested will go towards paying back the bank, as will the proceeds of the sale of the truck and snowmobiles, which will be auctioned off.
*** Edited to removed legalize terms April 4
