Family, friends and pastor of an eight-year-old girl who was abducted and sexually assaulted in Edmonton in March 2020 shared their grief with the court Monday morning as victim impact statements were read during the accused’s sentencing hearing. The child, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban protecting his identity, was walking home from a nearby friend’s house in the McQueen neighborhood. That’s when Wade Stene — already armed with duct tape, a face mask, a pocket knife and a white sheet in the back of his vehicle — grabbed the young woman, tied her up with tape and drove her to a quiet place. There, he sexually assaulted her before telling her not to tell anyone and leaving her. Story continues below ad Stene pleaded guilty in February to kidnapping, restraining and sexually assaulting the girl, as well as unlawfully soliciting a person under 16 to touch his body. READ MORE: Edmonton man pleads guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting 8-year-old girl The court heard on Monday that the child was terrified the man was going to eat and kill her. In her victim impact statement, the girl’s mother said: “I watched my carefree, adventurous daughter pull more and more into herself.” The mother went on to say that falling asleep became very difficult for her child. He was having nightmares and jumping away from cars parked by the curb. Her father called the ordeal “a parent’s worst nightmare.” “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about what happened, not a day that goes by that I don’t feel the pain and the horror and the venomous anger that makes my blood boil,” he said. The child’s father described feeling a “poisonous anxiety” that continues to weigh on him after what happened that day. Trending Stories
Blue Jays mourn death of coach’s daughter Air Canada Flight Cancellations: How to Get Refunds, Other Compensation
“Guilt. So deep guilt for how I could have let this happen, how I failed as a father to protect my child. I thank God that he is still with us and I curse his name that he would let this happen” . Story continues below ad 1:43 Edmonton man pleads guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting 8-year-old girl Edmonton man pleads guilty to kidnapping, sexually assaulting 8-year-old girl – February 4, 2022 The Crown is seeking a 20-year sentence, comparing the crime to a boulder dropped into water, with ripples spreading throughout the community – infecting people’s feelings of safety. “It’s extraordinary in its depravity, in the shocking nature of the offending that Mr. Stenn committed, but more importantly, it’s extraordinary in the harm it caused,” Crown prosecutor Keith Nicholls said. The defense is asking for a 10-year prison sentence. Stene is now 39 years old. Gladue report ordered, as Stene is Métis. It takes a deeper look into an offender’s past and family history. The court heard that as a child, Stene said he was physically and emotionally abused by both his father and stepfather. Story continues below ad Stan also said it would never amount to anything. He also stated that he was sexually abused by a teenage boy when he was a child himself. Defense lawyer Mark Jordan said his client had also attempted suicide twice in his youth. READ MORE: Man charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting 8-year-old girl in west Edmonton As an adult, Stene continued to live with his mother and worked various jobs as a cook, baker, in construction and on the oil field. He has no previous criminal record. In a statement to Global News, the victim’s family wrote: “This has been another unimaginably difficult day in court.” “There is no sentence that will satisfy us at the end of this ordeal, but we feel that we have been able to express, as far as possible, the level of terror, grief and consequential trauma that this man has not only caused his eight-year-old victim, but also in her family as well as in the tight-knit neighborhood where she lives and plays.” More to come… © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
