A provincial court judge in Prince George reserved decision Thursday, Feb. 13 on sentencing a woman who pleaded guilty to child pornography and sexual crimes.
The Crown prosecutor said Barbie Autwell, 36, should be sentenced to eight to 10 years in jail, while Autwell’s defence lawyer said she should serve the sentence in the community for two years and be placed on probation for three years.
Autwell pleaded guilty in November 2023 to possession of child pornography, making or publishing child pornography, importing/distributing child pornography, sexual interference of a person under 16 and bestiality.
The maximum jail sentence for making and distributing child pornography is 14 years. For bestiality, it is 10 years.
The charges, sworn in May 2023, relate to offences in Prince George from January 2021, except for the importing/distributing charge, which is from March 2022.
The identity of the victim is covered by a publication ban.
Before Judge David Simpkin, Crown prosecutor Andrea Norlund also proposed a 10-year prohibition under the criminal code from having any contact or communication with a person under age 16 or attendance at any public park or facility where persons under age 16 are present.
Autwell’s defence lawyer, Keith Jones, proposed a conditional sentence order of two years less a day, including a six-month house arrest term, and a three-year probation period. She would be subject to a mandatory 20-year listing in the national sex offender registry.
Norlund said pre-sentencing reports indicate that Autwell is a moderate-level risk to re-offend, due to “contemporary substance use, negative peer influence and sustained victim availability.”
Autwell does not have a prior criminal record and she pleaded guilty, thus avoiding a trial. Autwell has a Metis background, grew up in an environment of alcoholism and family violence and suffered physical and sexual abuse as an adolescent.
Norlund said aggravating factors included the highly intrusive nature of the sexual assaults, including Autwell touching the victim’s genitals with her hand and forcing the victim to touch Autwell’s genitals. The offences were motivated by the sexual pleasure of Autwell and her husband at the time, Norlund said.
Jones said Autwell is a victim of both her upbringing and her husband.
“This is a man that she married over the Internet, never has physically met” Jones said. “ And, as you can see from the dialogue that went on between them, the text messages back and forth, there's a great deal of controlling-type language there, and she was simply trying to please.”
Simpkin said he would need two hours to provide his sentencing decision on a date to be scheduled.
