Wilbur Crockwell insists he only meant to help his 14-year-old former step-daughter leave a troubled life behind in 2023, when he aided her in fleeing a group home in Newfoundland and attempted to move her to New Brunswick with him.
Now, after sparking an Amber Alert and pleading guilty to child abduction, he says he sees the error of his ways.
“I didn’t realize the impact my actions would create and I realize I went about it all the wrong way,” he said in court at a sentencing hearing on Monday in St. John’s.
Crown prosecutor Kellie Cullihall is asking the judge for a 12-month prison sentence, while defence lawyer Robert Hoskins countered with a request for house arrest ranging between 8-14 months.
Crockwell’s case put the public on high alert two years ago, prompting a rare Amber Alert in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The girl was first reported missing on June 2, 2023, when she failed to report back to her group home in St. John’s.
Police and social workers immediately suspected Crockwell — her mother’s former boyfriend — was involved in the girl’s disappearance, according to evidence presented at a bail hearing after his arrest.
The 14-year-old was picked up at a nearby mall by two friends of Crockwell, and driven to a remote cabin in central Newfoundland — about four hours from the capital city. They drove her there to wait for Crockwell, who left New Brunswick to come pick her up.
He was arrested halfway across the island, and police went to retrieve the girl from the cabin.
When given a chance to speak on Monday, Crockwell sobbed as he told of how he met the girl’s mother at church in New Brunswick and they moved in together soon after. He said he formed a close father-daughter relationship with the girl.
Social workers had concerns about the relationship between them, however, at one point implementing a safety plan to ensure Crockwell was out of the home, according to evidence presented at his bail hearing.
Despite this, Crockwell says the girl contacted him three months before the incident and told him she needed help leaving Newfoundland.
“It broke my heart because she didn’t belong there, and I didn’t want her to have the life that I had in the system,” said Crockwell, alluding to his upbringing in numerous foster homes. “I wanted to protect her from hitch-hiking across three provinces to get to me, so I arranged for her to get a ride out to central where I would meet her a week later.”
Both of the adults who brought the girl to central Newfoundland — Erin Bast and Cyril Boone — were also charged with child abduction. Boone’s charges were dismissed, while Bast pleaded guilty last year.
The Crown and defence submitted a joint submission for Bast, seeking eight months of house arrest in her case.
Judge Jacqueline Brazil questioned how the culpability of Crockwell and Bast was any different, to which the Crown replied Crockwell was like the robber, while Bast was the getaway driver.
Brazil said she’s heard many prosecutors argue the driver is just as culpable, and indicated she has leeway to break from the joint submission.
“If you believe the sentence is unfit, you can absolutely rule something different,” said Cullihall.
Brazil will release her decision for Crockwell and Bast on Aug. 13.
Girl says she just wanted to escape group home
In a victim impact statement, the 14-year-old girl says she feels awful for her role in the whole ordeal.
“The biggest emotional impact I feel is guilt,” she said. “The guilt of having all of this happen. I feel somewhat to blame myself for all of this.”
She says her biological father had died, and she just wanted to get back to her home province of New Brunswick.
“Before all this happened, I wanted more than anything to get out of the group home and off the island because I felt trapped and alone with no way to ever get out. I lost everything,” she said.
She said she was going to leave “one way or another,” with or without Crockwell’s help.
After a week at the cabin with Boone and Bast, the girl said she realized how “irresponsible” her plan had been.
She referred to Crockwell as her stepdad, and said she feels bad for getting him in trouble.
Crockwell is also charged with making, possessing and accessing child pornography. That case will be called for a status report at provincial court in St. John’s on Friday.
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