Kootenay man who sextorted teens jailed

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An East Kootenay man who tried to extort four teenage girls to get them to send nude photos to him has been jailed for six years.

BC Supreme Court Justice Terence Schultes said that 44-year-old Steven Laverne Plaskett took a “sadistic delight” in the distress he caused the girls, calling his behaviour “extremely disturbing” and “manipulative and unscrupulous.”

A recently published Jan. 15 BC Supreme Court decision said that between 2019 and 2021, Plaskett targeted four teenage girls in the East Kootenay area and tried to get them to send nude photos and caused them to fear for their safety.

He made threats to harm two of them.

In one case, Plaskett contacted a 15-year-old girl in Invermere through Snapchat and assumed several identities.

“Mr. Plaskett demanded nude pictures of herself… making explicit threats in the course of this coercion to abduct and kill her, to kill a member of her family and, as a special area of his emphasis, to kill her dog,” the Justice said. “He sought to convince her that she was under ongoing surveillance, including by sending a Google map with points of observation highlighted on it and the words ‘watching you’ inscribed, and at one point he assumed the identity of a person who had supposedly been recruited to watch her and kill her dog.”

When the teen refused, he sent a topless photo of her to all her classmates, which he’d managed to get from elsewhere. The decision doesn’t give details of how he got the photo.

Another 16-year-old victim lived in Cranbrook and met Plaskett before sending her Snapchat messages. When she told him to stop messaging her, he refused.

“Those disturbing communications culminated in him sending her a surreptitiously‑recorded video of her walking through the parking lot of a local shopping mall, which instilled fear for her safety, in that she was being surveilled and recorded without her being aware of it,” the Justice said.

Another teen was 15 years old and from Fernie.

“Once again, through Snapchat, Mr. Plaskett demanded nude photos of her and said he would follow and kidnap her if she did not comply,” the decision reads. “(Plaskett) referred to observing her at the local swimming pool, made sexually‑themed remarks about her body, and maintained the theme that she was under constant surveillance and could be approached by him at any time, similar to the types of comments he made to (another victim).”

Victims said they now live in a constant fear of being watched and harmed, and have an overall feeling of anxiety and insecurity in going about their lives.

One victim had made attempts at self‑harm, withdrew from school and developed issues with substance abuse.

“In her statement, she has drawn a picture of herself surrounded by numerous watching eyes, which I find quite evocative of the type of harm that these offences cause,” the Justice said.

The decision said Plaskett is from Saskatchewan and was living in the East Kootenays at the time.

In 2010, he was jailed for three years for having repeated sexual intercourse with a 12‑year‑old girl he’d met online.

“He was described by corrections officials as being difficult to manage while under that sentence, because of his manipulative and controlling behaviour,” the decision reads.

The decision said that over the years, he’s worked in the trucking industry and has been fired twice for “inappropriate sexually themed communications” with women.

He has an 11-year-old son, whom he is not allowed to contact.

The Justice noted that he hasn’t taken responsibility for what he did and he blames the parents for a lack of proper supervision, and the victims, saying their evidence was not truthful.

“Steven continues to maintain his pro-criminal attitude around his sexual offences of past and present. He displays a lack of insight, empathy or understanding of the impact his offences have had on the victims,” a probation officer wrote in a report.

The Justice said his actions were calculated to instill fear and vulnerability so the teens would comply with his demands.

“The aggravating factors are almost self‑evident and are very significant. His previous conviction is serious and directly related. There were multiple victims here. The offending carried on for quite an extended period, and to this day, he apparently has virtually no insight into the wrongfulness and harmfulness of his actions,” the Justice said.

Plaskett pleaded guilty, and in a joint submission, Crown and defence lawyers asked for six years in jail, and the Justice agreed.

NOTE TO READERS: To connect with a victim service program or violence against women program call VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808. VictimLink BC provides information and referrals to all victims, as well as immediate crisis response to victims of sexual and family violence.