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Babysitter jailed for sexually assaulting boy
Woman, 40, handed 2 1/2
years for multiple sexual encounters
CCRC Editor's Note: Notice the discriminatory wording
if the sexual offender is female and the child sexually
assaulted is male. The use of the words "affair",
"relationship", "sexual encounter". Notice that
she didn't get jail time. The female judge agreed that
the offender should get 2 1/2 years in jail and
then gave her time "in the community", effectively no
sentence. The female sexual assaulter also blamed her
actions on her ex-husband and the boy victim, a common pattern
these days in which female perpetrators of domestic
violence are told they are always the victim.
The Chronicle Herald, Halifax, N.S., January 19, 2008,
by Jennifer Stewart, Court Reporter
For months Pamela Ruth Collins bonded with the 12-year-old
boy she was hired to babysit.
But that’s not all the former Halifax woman was doing.
Ms. Collins, 40, was sentenced Monday to 2½ years in
prison for seducing the now 15-year-old Halifax boy into
having sex with her on dozens of occasions between July
1, 2004, and May 20, 2005.
Outside court, senior Crown attorney Chris Nicholson
said he was pleased the judge realized the gravity of the
offences — two charges of sexual assault and one of sexual
interference.
"They were serious breaches of trust, sexual intercourse
with a young boy who was under her care," said Mr. Nicholson,
adding this is the first time he’s prosecuted a woman for
this type of crime.
He said his recommendation for at least two years in
prison seemed "appropriate" in this case.
As a first-time offender at a low risk to reoffend, Ms.
Collins was eligible for a short sentence to be
served in the community.
However, Mr. Nicholson said, if a man committed a similar
offence, he would almost certainly get prison time.
"In these days of equality, it shouldn’t make any difference"
if the defendant is male or female, he said.
The judge agreed.
In her decision, Justice Margaret Stewart said it was
hard to ignore the fact that Ms. Collins still hasn’t taken
responsibility for her actions.
Instead the judge said, Ms. Collins is blaming her estranged
husband and the boy, claiming they conspired to get her
into trouble after the family moved to New Brunswick and
her marriage fell apart.
This was not an "explainable lapse of judgment," Justice
Stewart said, rather it was "calculated and premeditated."
"She knew right from wrong and was prepared to take the
risk."
Ms. Collins was hired in January 2004 to care for the
boy after school and on weekends. He regularly stayed for
supper, spent the night and tagged along on family vacations.
The sex didn’t begin until that summer, when Ms. Collins’s
husband began making business trips to New Brunswick.
During a weeklong trial last July, the boy testified
he and Ms. Collins had sex as many as 100 times at her home,
in her car and at the boy’s home, including oral sex on
several occasions.
The almost year-long relationship continued even after
Ms. Collins and her family moved to Moncton in September
2004. The mother of three, who now has two more children
from another relationship, had almost daily contact with
the boy via phone and webcam.
Although family members were suspicious, the pair weren’t
caught until the boy’s mother stumbled on to a suggestive
online conversation her son was having with Ms. Collins
in May 2005.
At first the boy denied everything, but eventually he
came clean.
A presentence report said Ms. Collins still denies they
had sex, although she testified they had a close relationship.
The ordeal has affected the boy’s relationship with his
mother and caused him to mature well before his time, the
Crown said.
"It has changed the way I look at things and at people,"
Mr. Nicholson read from the boy’s victim impact statement.
When Ms. Collins addressed the court, she apologized
to the boy and his family, and said she hopes he is able
to recover.
Her lawyer Peter Mancini and her family declined comment.
As part of the sentence, Ms. Collins must submit a DNA
sample and register as a sex offender. She is also banned
from owning any weapons for the next 10 years.
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