Sexoffender’s assessment continues
Aregistered sex offender convicted in April of sexually assaulting a young girl is still being assessed to determine whether he should be designated a dangerous or long-term offender. The deadline for Trevor Pritchard’s forensic assessment has been extended by nearly a month to give the doctor conducting it more time to write his report. The report was expected to be completed before a court hearing July 23, but during a hearing last week the date was moved to Aug. 13 because of the complexity of the case and to accommodate the doctor’s previously scheduled vacation plans.
Crown prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence lawyer Tonii Roulston jointly applied in April to have Pritchard undergo a 60-day assessment at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre in Calgary. Justice Rodney A. Jerke granted the assessment and determined there are reasonable grounds Pritchard might be found under provisions of the Criminal Code to be a dangerous or longterm offender.
Pritchard pleaded guilty April 9 in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench to one count each of child luring and sexual assault against a 15-year-old girl Jan. 17, 2017
Spaner told court Pritchard, who is 35 but claimed he was 25, sent the girl a friend request on Facebook, and the two communicated with each other hundreds of times on Facebook and through text messages between Oct. 14, 2016 and Jan. 18 the following year.
A couple of days before they met, the girl told Pritchard she was looking for a job, and he offered to help her. He later arranged to drive her to an interview, and after picking her up, took her to a residence in Coaldale.
When they arrived at the house, she went with Pritchard to the door, and once inside he told her the interview was not going to happen.
Instead, Pritchard took her to a bedroom where he sexually assaulted her numerous times before driving her back to her home in Lethbridge. When they arrived Pritchard warned the girl that if she told anyone “he would hunt her down and he would personally kill her.”
Spaner told court Pritchard pretended to offer the girl a shoulder to cry on, while his sole purpose was to commit the offences for which he was charged.
Also during last week’s hearing an agent for the defence asked that Roulston be removed as Pritchard’s lawyer. The agent, a student from Roulston’s Calgary law firm, said a conflict arose which resulted in a breakdown in the client/lawyer relationship.
When asked if he would be able to get another lawyer, Pritchard lowered his head into his hands and didn’t reply. However, court was told his father, who attended the hearing, will look for a new lawyer.
Pritchard still faces similar charges in relation to other underage girls and is scheduled to stand trial on those charges in November. In the fall of 2013 he finished serving a 44-month sentence for the sexual assault of two 13-year-old girls.
If designated a long-term offender, Pritchard would be monitored by authorities after his release from custody for up to 10 years. As a dangerous offender, he would receive an indeterminate penitentiary sentence, with parole eligibility after seven years.
Follow @DelonHerald on Twitter