A Kelowna man who pointed a shotgun at a sex worker he’d called to his home has managed to avoid a jail sentence.

A Kelowna courtroom heard, Aug. 25, that Kyle Eric Campbell had used Kelowna escort agency Beach Bunnies to request the sex worker in December 2023.

When the woman, whose name is covered under a court-ordered publication ban, arrived Campbell paid her.

However, feeling uncomfortable about the situation due to Campbell’s erratic behaviour, the sex worker cancelled the appointment and tried to return the money so she could leave.

“Mr. Campbell became frustrated and then anxious about the location of his phone and wallet, pulled out a weapon that appeared to be a firearm with a pump action handle and aimed it at (her),” BC Provincial Court Judge Cathie Heinrichs said. “(She) thought the weapon was real, that he was going to kill her and she pled for her life.”

The Judge pointed out the sex worker was in a particularly vulnerable place.

The court didn’t hear how long the ordeal lasted, but Campbell eventually put the weapon down, and after the sex worker promised not to tell anyone, he let her go.

“Having someone who is in an agitated state point what appears to be a real weapon at you will have a negative and lasting impact,” the Judge said. “She was pleading for her life.”

The sex worker went back to Beach Bunnies, who called the police.

According to Beach Bunnies’ website, the company provide “high-class Kelowna escorts and entertainment” and does not “provide any type of sexual services.”

Judge Heinrichs said the woman was there to provide sexual services.

When police arrived the following day, they seized a shotgun and a pellet gun from Campbell’s home.

It’s not known which weapon he pointed at the woman, but Campbell was charged with using an imitation firearm and forcible confinement.

He later pleaded guilty to two weapons charges.

Crown prosecutor Brock Bellrichard argued Campbell should spend nine months in jail. The defence wanted house arrest.

The court heard that Campbell was 27 at the time of the incident and has no memory of it due to excessive alcohol consumption.

He was raised on the Westbank First Nation and struggled with substance abuse since he was 14. He’d been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder.

He’d never done jail time, but had early convictions for assault and assaulting his partner. In his life, substance use had been normalized by his father.

“Some of these factors may have been results of his grandparents’ attendance at residential schools and the resulting intergenerational trauma and impacts on role modelling and families,” the judge said. “Mr. Campbell has not always had a supportive or easy upbringing, and a family has suffered from the impacts of colonialism, which have reached into Mr. Campbell’s life.”

However, since the offence, the now 30-year-old was sober and living in Vernon with his grandmother, who had a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol.

“I find that the support of the matriarchs in his life is powerful and mitigating,” the judge said.

He’d completed a five-week addictions treatment program and was deemed a low risk for violence in general.

He was also remorseful for his conduct, calling it “a failure of respect, integrity, (and) honour.”

“He is also quite aware that his actions are entirely unacceptable, dangerous, and would have a long-lasting impact on the victim,” the Judge said.

Ultimately, Judge Heinrich’s sentenced Campbell to 12 months house arrest, followed by a six month curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. He’s also on the hook $400 for the victim fine surcharge.

After Campbell told her the cupboards at home were empty, the judge also gave him leeway to stop and buy groceries on the way home.

“You thought that maybe I was going to send you to jail?” The judge asked.

“I expected the worst,” he replied.