(PARKER CROOK / iNFOnews.ca)

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton has told a North Okanagan man in his mid-forties that his alcoholism and depression were no excuse for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

Douglas Rick Leonard Aiechele was in his mid-forties when he met the teen on Facebook and argued for a lighter sentence because, at the time, he was suffering from alcoholism and depression, and his marriage had broken down.

However, Monday, Jan. 10, at the Vernon courthouse, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Allan Betton said the case was not one of "exceptional circumstances."

"The 48-year-old Mr. Aiechele knew the victim's age from the outset (and) despite that he pursued a sexual relationship," Justice Betton said. "This wasn't as it is in some circumstances an opportunistic one-time offence influenced by substance abuse."

Aiechele sat in the dock of the Vernon courthouse as the court heard how he had met the teen on Facebook in 2018.

It's not clear how the 15-year-old girl and Aiechele met online but the court heard that he had not initiated the Facebook conversation.

However, Justice Betton said Aiechele had "proactively purposed" the relationship and knew the victim was only 15 years old.

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The court heard Aiechele and the teen had exchanged multiple messages. In some she told him she loved him, in another, he asked for nude photos of her.

She didn't tell her friends about what was going on and when they saw her getting picked up in his car she said he was her uncle.

The court heard when they met, the victim and ran and jumped on Aiechele, and he had taken her shopping and bought her gifts.

The court heard how they had sex "more than once" and the events took place over several months in 2018.

In early 2019, Aiechele was arrested and charged with child luring, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference of a person under 16 and possession of child pornography.

The case avoided going to trial and instead he pleaded guilty to child luring and sexual interference of a person under 16 years old.

In a statement to the court, the victim said she now suffered from intense anxiety, has trust issues and finds it hard to be around older men. Because of this, she'd found it hard to work and be around lots of people.

The court heard how the 48-year-old had grown up in a home where violence and substance abuse were normalized. His mother was Indigenous and had attended a residential school.

His father was an alcoholic and while he had a good relationship with his mother it was only when she wasn't drinking. His grandparents were described as "raging alcoholics."

At the time of the offence, Aiechele was drinking heavily and his marriage had broken down. He worked permanent night shifts at Tolko for 20 years and was suffering from anxiety and depression. Tolko had since sent him to a residential rehabilitation centre and he'd got sober.

In a statement to the court, his ex-wife had said that she was in no way making excuses for his behaviour which has affected her and the children in "horrible" ways, but that Aiechele had turned his life around.

A statement from his sister said that since he stopped drinking he was a completely different person.

While the Crown had asked for a lenient sentence because of these issues the Justice dismissed it.

"They do not reduce the accused's moral culpability," Justice Betton said.

With that, the justice sentenced Aiechele to two-and-a-half years in jail.

He was then led out of the courtroom in handcuffs.

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