Curtis Sagmoen leaving the Vernon courthouse, today, June 19.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

Curtis Sagmoen, a North Okanagan man with a history of assaulting sex workers, won't do time behind bars for deliberately driving his quad bike into an escort he called to his rural Salmon River Road property in 2017.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gordon Weatherill sentenced Sagmoen today, June 19, at the Vernon courthouse to five months in jail, but Sagmoen won't do jail time as he is owed credit having spent over two years in custody prior to the trial.

While Sagmoen was not in custody prior to this trial he was still owed time after he spent more than two years behind bars, before he was convicted in December 2019 for pointing a shotgun at a sex worker.

Justice Weatherill calculated Sagmoen still had 277 days credit to be used against the 155-day sentence allowing him to walk free today.

He was, however, placed under very strict probation orders for 36 months. The order bars Sagmoen from access to the internet, and limits who he can speak to on the phone. Written permission is needed for him to spend a night away from home.

Justice Weatherill found Sagmoen guilty of assault causing bodily harm following a two-day trial in February.

The incident took place Aug. 10, 2017, just 17 days before Sagmoen ambushed and pointed a gun at another escort, and several months before police found the remains of the body of 18-year-old Traci Genereaux at the property. No one has been charged in connection with the discovery of Genereaux's body, and police have not said how she died.

A joint submission from Crown prosecutor Simone McCallum and defence lawyer Lisa Helps requested a sentence of four to five months prison time followed by 36 months probation. The length of the probation period would give Sagmoen enough time to "foster new habits" and receive proper counselling McCallum said.

The court heard how Sagmoen had called an escort to his parent's rural Salmon River Road property, where he lived in a trailer. Sagmoen met her on the property and gave her a ride on his quad. When things didn't go well, the woman decided to leave and started walking back down a dirt road to her car. Sagmoen then drove at high speed into the back of her.

The woman, who can't be named under a court-ordered publication ban, previously told the court she thought Sagmoen "tried to kill" her.

Sagmoen pleaded not guilty to the offence saying that although he'd run into her on the quad, it was an accident.

The woman who appeared to be shaking read an emotional victim impact statement in court today.

"Although I work in a line of work that comes with some uncertainties, I have generally always felt prepared and safe, Curtis Sagmoen has forever changed this for me," she said. "I was bleeding, swollen and badly bruised, and not able to sit or get out of bed for weeks."

The woman said she had recurring anxiety as well as headaches, a symptom of a concussion she received. She said she still deals with ongoing pain.

In the victim impact statement, the woman said it had been very hard to come forward to the police, but she did after hearing about another incident at the property.

Sagmoen has been charged for several incidents that took place during the summer of 2017 at or near his rural isolated property.

Helps said Sagmoen had a methamphetamine problem in the summer of 2017 and his actions were indicative of some who was "not acting in their right head." This was the first time the defence lawyer had highlighted Sagmoen's meth use and used it as a reason for his behaviour. Helps said Sagmoen had utilized his time in custody and been drug-free since October 2017.

The defence lawyer also said Sagmoen "had expressed significant remorse," something the court had not previously heard.

The court heard how Sagmoen had abided with his strict probation conditions, although had not attended group counselling as the small size of the community meant this was not possible. Helps said he was willing to receive counselling but it needed to be one-on-one.

The court heard how Sagmoen wanted to return to work and was a member of the Pile Drivers and Dock Workers Union local 2404.

With the court proceedings over, Sagmoen now has no other charges or upcoming trials pending.

Following the court procedures, Sagmoen quickly left the courthouse through a crowd of protestors and got into a two-seater Mercedes-Benz and was driven off.

In December 2018, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of mischief causing damage to property for using a homemade spike belt which a woman struck in her car on Salmon River Road in July 2017. Sagmoen was given an absolute discharge on a charge of mischief.

On Dec. 20, 2019, he was convicted of three charges for the incident where he ambushed and pointed a gun at an escort in August 2017. He was sentenced to just less than two years prison but released that day having been in custody for over two years.

He was charged with assault following another incident in May 2017, but the charge was stayed by Crown prosecutors in March 2019.

For more stories on Curtis Sagmoen go here.

— This story was updated 2:40 p.m. Friday, June 19, 2020 to include more information from the court proceedings.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2020