A 37-year-old man convicted of sexually interfering with a girl under age 16 in Powell River returned to court for the second time in less than a year because he breached conditions of his conditional sentence.
In June 2024, a BC Supreme Court judge sentenced Kasimir Tyabji-Sandana to two years, less a day, to be served under house arrest, plus three years probation.
Tyabji-Sandana failed to immediately report his attendance at a Surrey alcohol addiction treatment facility a week after sentencing and also failed to immediately report his early departure. He was arrested, but freed after one day in jail last July and faced no additional discipline.
On May 24, he was taken into custody again. This time on a warrant for failing to complete a required a sex offender treatment course. A Provincial Court judge in Kelowna sentenced him June 17 to an additional 65 days in jail.
“The requirement that he complete the sex offender programming is, to a certain extent, at the heart of his rehabilitation, given the nature of the offence for which a jury found him guilty of,” said judge Clarke Burnett. “The fact that he failed to do so is of significance.”
Crown prosecutor Kara Shin sought a 90-day jail sentence. She would have asked for more, but parliament mandates lighter sentences for those who identify as Indigenous.
Shin also told the court that Tyabji-Sandana’s conditional sentence order supervisor believes his pattern of disobedience should be enough for a judge to convert the remaining time under house arrest into a jail sentence.
“While this is his second submitted breach, the CSO supervisor has indicated that he has chosen to not submit breaches for missed appointments and residences being switched without permission ahead of time,” said Shin.
Defence lawyer Michael Stephenson suggested the 25 days in jail was enough and argued for leniency because Tyabji-Sandana had been in detox twice this year, is five courses shy of a law degree and seeking financing with family members to establish a nutrition supplement company.
Burnett disagreed with Stephenson. He added clauses to the conditional sentence, including mandatory abstention from possessing or consuming alcohol and nonprescription drugs, and a ban on visiting any liquor store, bar or nightclub. He must also report to forensic psychiatric services and attend all appointments.
Burnett warned Tyabji-Sandana that a third breach would likely mean finishing the sentence in jail, “so you best ensure that, once you are released from custody, that you abide strictly and religiously in all the conditions.”
Tyabji-Sandana met the girl in 2016 when she volunteered at his mother and stepfather’s farm for work experience credits toward high school graduation. He was, coincidentally, under an Alberta judge’s house arrest order and pleaded guilty in 2018 to attempting to possess acetyl fentanyl, for which he received an eight-month house arrest and eight-month curfew sentence.
The Crown sought a four-to-five year jail sentence for the sexual interference crime, but justice Peter Edelmann agreed with Tyabji-Sandana’s defence lawyer for house arrest because of his suffering due to Métis heritage.
In March, a judge ordered release of court exhibits, including Tyabji-Sandana’s pre-sentencing reports and a character reference letter from the superintendent of the Powell River Board of Education. Less than two weeks after the sentencing, the school board announced Jay Yule would leave the top job at the end of the school year.
During that March court hearing, Yule’s lawyer, who formerly represented Tyabji-Sandana, told Justice Jan Brongers that details of his departure from the board are protected by a nondisclosure agreement.
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