Defence seeks 7 years jail for convicted Kamloops rapist

A convicted serial rapist’s lawyer is proposing he spend the next seven years in jail, half the time prosecutors proposed to a Kamloops judge this week.

Joel Eric Carlson, 32, appeared in court May 21, where his lawyer said he has already showed potential for rehabilitation in the years leading up to his sentence. The progress he has made so far suggests the lengthy sentence proposed by prosecutors is higher than necessary, she told the court.

“Rehabilitation in this case specifically cannot be ignored, and Mr. Carlson’s efforts in this regard are both undeniable and, I would suggest, extraordinary,” she said.

Carlson was convicted on six of 10 sexual assault charges heard by a Kamloops jury last year. His multiple victims testified in detail the ways he overpowered them, with one rape occurring in 2013 and others as recently as 2018.

READ MORE: Crown seeks 14 years for Kamloops serial rapist

On May 20, a Crown prosecutor proposed a sentence of 14 years, but it was countered by defence lawyer Lisa Helps the next day. She proposed seven years and seven months behind bars.

Helps said the Crown’s proposed sentence doesn’t take into account mitigating factors, like progress toward his sobriety and counselling, but suggested it’s “simply for another purpose like retribution.”

Helps said Carlson abused alcohol at the time of the sexual assaults and he was often drunk at the time. Having remained sober in the time after he was first convicted of a single sexual assault in Vernon four years ago, she said he has begun to address his offending already.

BC Supreme Court Justice Paul Riley will come to a decision at a later date.

The sentence Riley hands down will likely give Carlson credit for more than 700 days of time already served. He remains in custody, where he has been since he was convicted by a Kamloops jury last June.