Salmon Arm man, 48, jailed for having sex with a teenager

A 48-year-old Shuswap man, who had unprotected sex with a 15-year-old girl who went to high school with his kids, will spend four years in jail.

According to a recently published May 16 BC Supreme Court decision, Vincent Lorne Massie arranged with the teen that she would come to his house at lunchtime and have sex.

Afterwards, she walked back to school herself and later messaged him saying next time he needed to use a condom.

The decision said Massie met the teen as he had three teenagers at the Salmon Arm school. She sent him a message on Facebook and the two began an online relationship where many of the messages were sexually explicit.

They messaged each other for about six weeks. At his request, she sent him nude photos and videos of herself. He then arranged for her to come over at lunchtime.

He knew the girl was only 15 years old, while he was 48 years old at the time.

It’s unclear how it came about but Massie, who is now in his mid-50s was later arrested and charged with child luring and sexual assault.

The incident dates back to 2018 and the file has been winding its way through the court system. In April 2024 he pleaded guilty.

The decision said Massie has a criminal record dating back to 1992 and has been convicted for assault, using a forged document, drug possession, possession of stolen goods and being an accessory to an armed robbery. In 2015, he was sentenced to two-and-half-years in jail for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death.

Massie has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction since he was in his 20s and was using cocaine and alcohol daily at the time of the offence.

He told the court he was remorseful and the offences were out of character for him and blamed it on his drug and alcohol use. He also blamed his girlfriend at the time who he said was an alcoholic.

Justice Christopher Giaschi said he had concerns about whether Massie was truly remorseful.

“Although (he) expressed remorse and apologized in his statement to the court, he also continued to blame the offences on his drug and alcohol addiction,” the Justice said.

A report presented to the court questioned whether Massie understood the effect it had had on the victim and whether he accepted full responsibility for the offence.

The impact on the teen was profound and she read a victim impact statement to the court herself. A move the Justice said was brave.

“I continuously struggle with copious amounts of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and poor anger management. This all has greatly compromised my ability to function normally or enjoy my life,” the teen read to the court. “I struggle so dearly with these issues that at times I am unable to eat, leave my house, and I suffer from nightmares on the rare occasions that I am able to fall asleep.”

Her doctor had diagnosed her with severe depression and anxiety.

“Emotionally and socially I have been damaged, I feel that I am mentally behind peers in my age group, and due to this my ability to form or maintain friendships and relationships has been negatively altered gravely,” she said.

The court heard how Massie had been the victim of sexual abuse himself by members of the Anglican church in Edmonton as a youth. He is part of a class-action law suit against the church.

In 2019, he went into rehab and has been largely drug and alcohol-free since then.

While Crown prosecutors wanted four years jail, his defence lawyer asked for two and a half years, citing in part Massie’s sobriety, his history of stable employment, and the fact he was a low risk to re-offend.

However, Justice Giaschi wasn’t swayed, saying Massie’s behaviour needed to be condemned.

“The offences are very serious, the victim was a child, the offences caused significant actual harm to (the victim), and the moral blameworthiness of Mr. Massie is high,” the Justice said. “In the circumstances, a… sentence of four years’ imprisonment is neither unduly long nor unduly harsh.”