A middle-aged man who let a 10-year-old boy spend the night at his house, unbeknownst to the child’s family, made a “very poor” decision but is not guilty of abduction, a B.C. judge has ruled.
The boy’s mother reported him missing after he didn’t return to their home in Quesnel, a small community in the province’s Cariboo region, on the night of July 21, 2022.
The alarming incident eventually led to charges against Jason Adam Penner, who was 44 years old at the time of the sleepover.
But in a decision issued this month in B.C. Supreme Court, Justice Anita Chan found the accused’s behaviour did not rise to the level of criminality.
“There is simply no evidence that Mr. Penner intended to take (the boy) and intended to keep (him) away from his mother,” Chan said, in her reasons.
“Mr. Penner asked (the boy) if his parents were agreeable to him coming over and (he) replied they were.”
The court heard Penner and the 10-year-old initially met up “randomly” outside a Circle K convenience store, where they discussed hockey cards.
Penner then took the boy home to look at some rare collectibles, and invited him to return the next day.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Penner did anything more than that,” Chan said. “The next day, (the boy) decided on his own to visit Mr. Penner.”
The child ultimately spent the night, in Penner’s bedroom.
READ FULL ARTICLE: https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/bc-mans-very-poor-decision-to-let-child-sleep-over-not-criminal-judge-rules/
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