An online petition has been launched calling on B.C.'s Attorney General to seek an appeal of the sentence issued to former Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold.
Strimbold was sentenced Dec. 4 in B.C. Supreme Court in Smithers to two years less a day followed by two years probation after pleading guilty to four counts of sexual assault involving four boys who were under the age of 16.
The term has not sat well with Glen Laliberte and the more than 2,000 people who have signed it as of Monday. The term is "not just and his victims deserve better," Laliberte said in the posting on Change.org.
"Strimbold's victims will live with this traumatic event for the rest of their lives. What is the message our justice system is sending to others that harm innocent children?" he continued.
B.C. Prosecution Service communications counsel Daniel McLaughlin said the Attorney General has the authority to "provide direction to the BCPS" with respect to the "approval or conduct of an appeal." But he also cautioned that the Attorney General "must fulfill this constitutional role in an independent and judicial manner."
According to a BCPS policy manual, an appeal of sentencing will be approved only if the term is either illegal or unfit and either involves a serious offence, raises a question concerning legal principle or involves the public interest in the proper administration of justice.
But in general, "a sentence will only be considered unfit if it is clearly below the acceptable range of sentence and not merely at the low end of the acceptable range."
Crown counsel was seeking four to six years, which would have been served in a federal institution, while Strimbold's lawyer argued for 18 months, the minimum that must be served to get into a sexual offender treatment program.
Two years less a day is the maximum time that can be served in a provincial facility. It was also recommended he serve the sentence at Ford Mountain Correctional Centre where the province's treatment program is housed.
There is a chance Strimbold could be out early. Under "early remissions," an inmate can be released after serving two-thirds of a sentence based on good behaviour, Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General public affairs officer Hope Latham confirmed. Early releases are not made public for privacy reasons, she said.
In 2011, Strimbold became British Columbia's youngest elected mayor when he was elected in Burns Lake, a community of about 1,850 people 226 kilometres west of Prince George.
In September 2016 and part way through his second term. An indictment shows the assaults he pleaded guilty to occurred between May 2014 and August 2017.
In March 2018, a special prosecutor took over the case because Strimbold was a former mayor and because he had connections to the B.C. Liberal party.
Nechako Lake MLA John Rustad said Monday he was not aware of the petition and had no further comment.
"I heard about the sentencing but I had not looked into it any further at all," Rustad said.
Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty said he was disappointed with the sentence Strimbold got, saying it should be longer. He plans to take the issue and others like it to the floor of parliament, possibly as part of a speech about the right of victims.
"What we saw with this sentencing is just another slap in the face," Doherty said.
