A Prince George woman was found guilty Wednesday of assault for grabbing the hand of a six-year-old boy she did not know and nearly leading him out of a local convenience store.
Corina Lynn Beauchamp, 48, had also faced a count of abduction but in issuing his verdict, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale found Crown prosecution had not proved that charge beyond reasonable doubt.
The outcome stems from a March 21 incident when the boy and his mother had gone to the 20th Avenue 7-11. When the mother went to the rear of the store to get a treat for her son, he went to the hot chocolate vending machine at the front but was still within eyesight of his mother.
After awhile, Beauchamp came over to where the boy was. A talkative type, the boy began speaking to the woman although she was a stranger, suggesting she should try the hot chocolate, the mother testified during a trial held last week.
When the mother was ready to leave, she looked around and could not see her son. She walked to the front door where she found Beauchamp and the boy. She called her son over and asked Beachamp what she was doing but could not remember the reply.
They went home and, after a conversation with her father, called police the next day.
Beauchamp testified she was trying to find the boy's mother but Tindale did not accept her story. Video evidence showed they walked right past the boy's mother yet Beauchamp did not ask the woman if the boy was hers, he noted.
However, Tindale also noted Beauchamp let go of the boy's hand and remained in the store for some time afterwards, despite being banned from the location for previous trouble. Video showed Beachamp walking by the front entrance twice before entering while the clerk was looking the other way. She also returned to the store after the incident, which Tindale said shows Beauchamp was not following the two.
On that basis, Tindale found Beauchamp not guilty of abduction.
But he found Beauchamp intentionally applied force when she grabbed the boy's hand without his consent and noted a power imbalance between an adult and a young boy. Beauchamp had no lawful reason to take control of the boy, Tindale said, and found her guilty of assault.
Beauchamp will be sentenced at a later date once a pre-sentence report has been completed.
