(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS — A man who stole more than $8,000 from a Kamloops trailer as a 12-year-old boy slept a short distance away has been sentenced to two years of probation.

Stephen D. Smith, 25, pleaded guilty to one count of theft exceeding $5,000 today, April 5, in Kamloops Supreme Court for an incident that took place almost two years ago at the G & M Trailer Park.

Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan says Smith became aware of a large sum of money exceeding just over $8,000 cash at a trailer home when he was at a party with the homeowner days before the offence.

Flanagan says Smith overheard the man mention the sum of money and where it was located inside the home. Smith did not know the man and simply overheard him mention those details.

“[Smith] was desperate. He saw it as an opportunity to grab easy money,” Flanagan said. “It’s not something he is proud of.”

On June 21, 2017, Smith broke into the trailer through a bedroom window at around 5:30 a.m. The only person in the trailer at the time was a young boy.

“It is unfortunate, and this is well understood by Mr. Smith, that the only person in the home at the time was a 12-year-old boy,” Flanagan said. “Mr. Smith did not know this.”

Smith told Crown prosecutors he would have never entered the trailer knowing a young person was in there.

Flanagan says the boy’s parents were already at work and the boy’s mom had made arrangements with the boy’s grandpa to arrive later on in the morning to help the child get ready for school.

Smith entered the trailer and grabbed $8,100 that was in the pocket of a ski-doo suit. Smith stashed the money in his underwear before he caught a glimpse of the young boy.

Flanagan says Smith told the boy “Look, I am sorry, I am leaving right now”.

The boy said Smith “booted it out of there” and called the police.

Smith left the property and tried to swim across the river in an attempt to evade officers.

“The police fished him out of the river and the sum of money was found stuffed in his underwear,” Flanagan said.

Smith, who was representing himself without a lawyer, says he has attempted to turn his life around for the better since the incident. He told Justice Sheri Ann Donegan he comes from a past filled with crime and no longer wants to be affiliated with that.

"I want to break the habitual trends not only for my sake by for those around me," Smith said.

He is currently working with an employment program to seek stable work and is thinking about going back to school.

Both Smith and crown prosecutors agreed on the two-year probation period. He will also have to write an apology letter to his victims.

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