Kelowna woman who sexually abused her daughter avoids jail

A 43-year-old Kelowna woman has been sentenced to house arrest for sexually assaulting her eight-year-old daughter.

The woman, referred to only as P.R.J. in court documents, was sentenced at the Kelowna courthouse Dec. 13 to 12 months house arrest, followed a further 11 months under a curfew.

According to an Aug. 31 B.C. Supreme Court decision, Justice Barry Davies found P.R.J. guilty of sexually assaulting her daughter in November 2018.

The decision says the daughter, referred to only as P in the documents, told her aunt what had happened after her mother had been admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre.

In a case based largely on the testimony of the now 10-year-old daughter, Justice Davies said the young girl had been "steadfast" and an "honest witness."

The Justice, however, described the mother's testimony as "evasive, argumentative, and defensive" and was "deliberately calculated to attempt to now cloak the genesis of her sexual touching that night with an air of innocence."

According to the decision, in November 2018 the then eight-year-old daughter climbed into bed with her mother as she often did.

However, that night the mother sexually touched and kissed her daughter.

Weeks after the abuse took place, the daughter called her grandmother one morning because she couldn't wake her mother up.

The mother then entered a drug rehabilitation program and the daughter lived with her aunt.

The court documents show lengthy detailed interviews conducted by the police with the almost 11-year-old daughter explaining what her mother had done to her.

In the interview, the daughter says she felt "angry and sad" about what her mom had done.

In court, the mother admitted the daughter got into bed with her and that they were both naked, but denies any sexual touching took place.

The court documents say the mother had a history of substance abuse but she downplayed it to the court.

Along with the sentence of house arrest, the woman was also ordered to receive counselling and banned from owning weapons for 10 years.

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