Rapist now guilty of defrauding Peterborough man
Steven Yearley pleads guilty to fraud after $30K scammed
Justice Stuart Konyer showed little sympathy in sentencing convicted rapist Steven Yearley.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000 in Ontario Court of Justice on Monday. According to an agreed statement of facts, Yearley scammed a former intimate partner out of more than $30,000 back in 2015.
“You drained his finances for your own benefit,” Konyer read in his sentencing.
“He has been ruined financially.”
Konyer sentenced Yearley to a year in jail. Minus time served, Yearley will spend another 239 days behind bars. Konyer said jail time was the only way to protect society from Yearley.
“You present a real risk to the community,” Konyer said, adding he fears Yearley will prey on the next vulnerable victim when he’s released.
“It seems to be your pattern.” Court heard how Yearley defrauded the victim while he was hospitalized with mental health issues. Yearley stole from the man by accessing different types of credit, by forging cheques and fraudulently using the victim’s credit cards.
“This was not a one and done crime,” assistant Crown attorney Kevin Doyle said in his sentencing submissions.
“It was a calculated effort.”
The victim was not in court Monday but provided the court a brief written statement to consider when sentencing Yearley. The victim explained how he had to file for bankruptcy because of Yearley.
“It’s been aggravating to take care of everything,” the victim said in his statement.
The man added he also felt victimized because Yearley went under a different name at the beginning of the relationship.
“I ruined that man’s life,” Yearley admitted from the prisoner’s box.
Before being sentenced, Yearley pleaded for Konyer to sentence him to time served and probation so he could try to start his life over and be a contributing part of society.
“I already know what I did was wrong. I can’t change anything unless I get a chance,” Yearly said, wiping away tears.
Yearley, who has spent the better part of the last 10 years in custody, said he has never had a chance to succeed in life.
“I want something to be proud of,” he said, after calling himself a loser and a horrible, ugly person with no friends and parents who don’t want to talk to him.
Yearley came to Peterborough in May 2013 after serving four years and six months in federal prison for violently sexually assaulting a Huntsville woman on Hunters Bay Trail in 2007.
City police said Yearley chose not to participate in any programs in prison. By serving his entire sentence, he wouldn’t be placed under conditions upon his release. However, Yearley did agree to keep the peace, allowing officers to monitor him on a regular basis.
Yearley was living on Donegal Street, leaving the neighbourhood up in arms. He was back behind bars three months after the public alert when an officer saw Yearley at Reid and McDonnel streets around 5 a.m. He was arrested for breaching his curfew and sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Following that arrest, the owner of the home Yearley’s family was renting served him a no trespassing order and the family decided to move.
Yearley returned to Huntsville, but it wasn’t long before he was in jail again. Huntsville police arrested him in October 2013, for being on a walking trail without a family member, which was prohibited by a court order. He served a further 49 days in custody, in addition to time already spent in custody.
Yearley once again returned to Peterborough in May 2014, prompting police to issue another warning. By July of the same year, Yearley was arrested again. Police say Yearley did not present himself to officers when they came to his home for a check-in.
“I urge you to get some help once you’re released from custody,” Konyer said before Yearley left the courtroom.