Sex with girl, age 11 nets 90 days in jail

KELOWNA — A 28-year-old man who admitted to having sex with an 11-year-old girl in Penticton was sentenced Thursday to 90 days in jail to be served on weekends.

Rick Allen pleaded guilty to sexual assault after admitting to having intercourse with a young girl in 2014.

Allen and the girl corresponded briefly on the dating website Plenty of Fish before meeting late at night on Feb. 23, 2014, when they had sex in his Penticton apartment.

The girl claimed she was 18, although Allen admitted to police he thought she may have been as young as 14 or 15.

Witnesses who met the girl that evening said they too were shocked to learn she was only 11 because she was physically mature for her young age.

Allen was scheduled to be sentenced last month, but defence counsel James Pennington made an application to adjourn the sentencing because Allen’s partner was in labour.

The adjournment was the last in more than a year of delays in this case.

Crown argued for a jail sentence of between nine months and one year, while defence sought the mandatory minimum of a 90-day jail sentence to be served on weekends, which will be followed by two years’ probation.

Pennington successfully argued the sentence should be intermittent, because Allen’s partner recently had a baby via Caesarean section and needs his help around the house.

His jail sentence will be served in Vernon.

As part of his probation, Allen is not permitted to access any social media websites. He will be listed on the national sex offender registry for 10 years.