Internet child lurer’s sentence adjourned

A Regina man who went to a city bus stop two years ago to meet a 13-year-old girl for sexual purposes and found a police officer waiting instead will learn his sentence next month.

Yashandeep Dhillon, 32, was found guilty at trial of luring a child for sexual purposes under the age of 16 by a computer system on Oct. 4.

On Friday, Regina Court of Queen’s Bench Judge Richard Elson heard sentencing recommendations from Crown prosecutor Loreley Berra and defence lawyer Wei Wu.

Berra recommended a oneyear jail sentence followed by three years of probation. As well, Dhillon would be required to submit a DNA sample to authorities and be placed on a national sex offender registry for 20 years.

Wu argued that the Crown’s sentencing recommendation was too harsh and instead proposed a three-month jail term followed by probation. He said his client didn’t have a previous criminal record and that he regrets what he has done. Although not an excuse, Wu said Dhillon, as a new immigrant, was ignorant of Canadian law.

Wu also noted that if his client is sentenced to more than six months in jail, he loses his right to appeal a deportation order. But Elson and Berra pointed out that even the jail sentence proposed by Wu would still pose a risk of deportation.

Dhillon immigrated to Canada from India in the summer of 2010.

In September of that year, he began communicating with an undercover police officer posing as a 13-yearold girl on an Internet chat room.

On Dec. 17, 2010, Dhillon was arrested at a bus stop near the corner of Broad Street and Broadway Avenue where he arranged to meet the girl.

“This was a situation that didn’t occur in a short ... or quick period of time. It was a four-month period of time (and) that conversation developed into extreme, sexual explicit comments,” said Berra.

Elson adjourned the matter until Feb. 3. At that time, he is expected to deliver the sentence.