Wade Stene, charged with kidnapping and sexual assault of a minor. Photo from the provided

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An Edmonton man who admitted kidnapping and sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl should be sentenced to 20 years in prison, Crown prosecutors say. Wade Stene pleaded guilty in February to charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and solicitation of sexual intercourse, admitting that he pulled a complete stranger into his Jeep and raped her on March 10, 2020. Stan’s sentencing hearing began on Monday. Prosecutor Keith Nicholls argued the 39-year-old should be jailed for 20 years, describing the case as “extraordinary in its corruption”. “There can be no doubt, in the Crown’s respect, that this crime was premeditated,” Nicholls said. “(The girl) may not have been Mr. Stene’s intended victim, but there is little reasonable inference to suggest that she did not leave his home that day without the goal of doing exactly what she did.”

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Defense attorney Mark Jordan argued that Stene should serve a 10-year sentence. He said the sentence would be appropriate, in part, given the “serious circumstances” of the offenses, the fact that Sten has no criminal record and the impact of COVID-19 on prisons. The girl, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, was represented in court by her parents and other relatives. Ten victim impact statements from family, friends and the family’s pastor were read in court. The girl’s mother said after realizing her daughter was missing, she thought she might have been injured and feared she might have been injured in a hit and run. “But the unthinkable was much worse than I thought,” he told the court. “To hear my daughter tell me she was rushed, it destroyed me.”

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The girl’s father also read a victim impact statement in court. He called Stene “this despicable creature who hurt my little girl” and said he is wracked with guilt for not being able to protect his daughter. Weeks after Stene was charged, police announced he had been released on bail and released his photo and the general location of his mother’s home. A group of protesters began continuous demonstrations outside the house, with profane messages directed at Stan, an open coffin and members of outlaw motorcycle gangs. Stene’s lawyer later filed a complaint over the revelation, as well as videos of police officers handing out water and punching protesters. The protests ended when Stan chose to return to prison.

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Jordan asked the judge to consider the protests a collateral consequence of the sentence. In an affidavit written by Stene and read aloud in court by his lawyer, he explained the impact of the protests. Jordan read that in separate incidents, a woman forced her way into the residence asking where Stan was, objects were thrown at the house, and lasers were pointed at the house. “I feared for my safety and had trouble sleeping and feared that some of them would come into my residence and harm or kill my mother and me,” Stene’s affidavit read. In a victim impact statement read in court by one of the girl’s aunts, the aunt described how the family feared for the girl’s safety after Stene was out on bail and living near the girl’s home. “Furthermore, we were outraged at an incredible miscarriage of justice and had no reason, no power to change that,” he said. The aunt said protests at Stene’s home became intense, with signs and posters of Stene all over the neighborhood where the girl played. “I walked by the protest site several times a day, removing any pictures of my niece’s rapist that I could get my hands on so she wouldn’t have to see him again,” the aunt said. “I got threats when I did that.” The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue Tuesday. [email protected]

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