A 20-year-old woman was sentenced Feb. 10 to a 12-month conditional discharge after she pleaded guilty to grabbing a police officer by the testicles.
Prince George provincial court Judge Cassandra Malfair agreed with a joint submission from lawyers for the Crown and defendant, Alyssa Hope Parsons.
Parsons was originally charged with assaulting a peace officer and wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer after a Sept. 20, 2023 incident at a residence on Nicholson Street. The latter charge was stayed after the guilty plea.
Should Parsons obey the law, have no contact with the police officer outside of his duties and successfully complete probation during the next year, she will have no criminal record.
The court heard that two RCMP officers were dispatched to an alleged domestic assault in progress. Nobody answered the door, so an officer tried kicking it in. A male opened the door, with Parsons standing beside him. Both were sweating and their faces flushed.
Parsons identified herself, was initially evasive and denied anything was wrong. She eventually admitted to being in an argument with her boyfriend, but was uninjured.
Parsons continued yelling and screaming and one of the officers unsuccessfully attempted to calm her down. He told her she was under arrest and, as he attempted to place her in handcuffs, she grabbed his testicles.
Crown prosecutor Anne Baines told Malfair that the officer shouted “do not grab my nuts!”
“She was kicking and screaming. They had a difficulty getting her down the stairs and into the police car,” Baines said.
Defence lawyer David Jenkins said that Parsons, who has Indigenous heritage, has no criminal record. Her supply of mental health medication had lapsed around the time of the offence.
“She had spoken with her pharmacy and she was just waiting for them to have her medication ready for pickup, but that hadn't quite occurred at the time of this incident,” Jenkins said.
Malfair said it was “very aggravating” that Parsons assaulted an officer who answered the call for a female in distress.
“You ended up assaulting him in a way that was very demeaning,” Malfair said. “Some would say it has the hallmarks of a sexual assault, and it's very disgraceful.”
Malfair said the courts have made it clear that assaults against police officers usually warrant a sentence in jail or house arrest. In this case, she said that the officer supported the proposed sentence, “otherwise there may be an issue, because the court has been very clear about what principles ought to apply.”
Malfair said that she hopes Parsons, who has two young children and is apologetic, can manage her emotions.
“I've been working really heavily on counselling and with my psychiatrist, and getting myself to a much better place,” Parsons told the judge.
