Former Calgary politician Terry Lo will serve a two-and-a-half-year sentence after he pleaded guilty to two counts, including child luring and sexual touching of a minor.
Lo will serve his sentence at Alberta’s Bowden Institution, a medium security prison.
The sentence was a joint submission between the Crown and the defence team.
“Mr. Lo was very remorseful,” Lo’s defence Lawyer Tonii Roulston said. “He was very aware of the impact that these charges had on the young person who is now the victim.”
According to an agreed statement of facts, in September 2016, Lo convinced a teenager to meet him through an online chat.
The victim got into Lo’s vehicle, where he offered her alcohol.
After the incident, the victim went home and told her neighbour and mother what happened.
On March 21, Lo told the court:
“I screwed up. I wished I could have taken it back.”
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He admitted he hurt a young girl, but that he was under a lot of stress at the time.
“I ran for office. I can’t serve in the community like I used to. That just kills me,” Lo said.
He began to cry.
“My wife is still with me and I don’t know why,” Lo said.
The judge replied: “This is not what a normal person does under stress.”
He called the crime “horrendous.”
The defence told court Lo is open to counselling, that he has no past criminal history and hasn’t breached any of the conditions in the case.
Lo was charged with offences related to the sexual assault of a minor almost two years ago.
A teenage girl reported a sexual assault to Airdrie RCMP on Sept. 14, 2016.
Lo resigned as the Alberta Party candidate in Calgary-Glenmore in May 2015 for what he described as an “inappropriate” joke he posted online.