Photo: Wayne Moore
Robert Riley Saunders pleaded guilty to three charges, including breach of trust.
He’ll have to wait a little longer to learn his fate, but a former Kelowna social worker finally apologized at the sentencing hearing.
Robert Riley Saunders pleaded guilty last year to three of the 13 charges he faced; fraud over $5,000, breach of trust in connection with his duties as a child protection guardianship officer and using a false document.
During the final day of the sentencing hearing, Saunders took the stand in front of Superior Court Judge Steve Wilson and delivered his statement to the court.
Saunders began by saying that there was a perception during his trial that he was remorseless, but that was not true. He said he had been limited in reaching out to those affected for the past four and a half years.
He expressed “sincere remorse” and said he felt sorry for his employer, his colleagues and the young people and families affected.
Saunders said he wishes he could go back in time to be the voice of reason to advise his younger self.
“I would never set out to emotionally hurt anyone. I’m really sorry,” he finished.
Saunders, a former social worker with the Department of Children and Family Development, pleaded guilty in September last year to defrauding the department of more than $460,000, depriving vulnerable Indigenous youth in his care.
He was charged with multiple counts of fraud over $5,000, breach of trust and forging a college degree that he used to get a job with MCFD in 1996.
The Crown is seeking a sentence of between six and eight years in prison, while defense attorney Brian Fitzpatrick said his client is remorseful and suggested two years of house arrest followed by three years of probation.
A large group of members of the Okanagan Nation Alliance and others gathered outside a court in Kelowna last month, calling for a harsh sentence for Saunders and justice for the Indigenous children who were victimized by him.
During her statements, prosecutor Heather Magnin noted that Saunders targeted particularly vulnerable Indigenous children who had been removed from their homes by the MCFD because she believed they were less likely to speak up about their lack of support .
Magnin said Saunders increased his fraud over seven years, stealing from younger and younger youths. By the time he was caught in 2018, he was stealing funds that should have gone to about half of the youth in his care.
The case is due back in court on July 25, when Judge Wilson will either pass sentence or set a sentencing date. What happens depends on the availability of Crown and defense lawyers, who both have other trials scheduled, although the judge said he wants to make his decision sooner rather than later.
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