A Port Alberni couple and another man have been charged after the trio filmed the takedown of a 28-year-old man they say arrived to have sex with their 13-year-old daughter.
The incident is alleged to have happened at a Port Alberni home on April 12, 2018.
Hog-tied and face down on the ground, the man’s image was streamed on Facebook Live for the world to see.
“We f***ing tackled him and zap-strapped him and called the police because earlier today, when I asked the police to come here for this meet, they said ‘No,’” the mother said on the video.
On Oct. 4, 2018, charges of assault causing bodily harm and unlawful confinement or imprisonment were laid against the 33-year-old mother, her 38-year-old partner, and a 36-year-old man.
Global News is not naming the three accused in order to protect the identity of the woman’s daughter – should the alleged child predator ever be charged.
The trio appeared in Port Alberni court on Jan. 2, 2019 – and is scheduled for another appearance on Jan. 11. The couple is scheduled for an arraignment hearing on that date while the friend is set for disposition or sentencing.
Acumen Law criminal lawyer Kyla Lee, who is not connected to the case, said the courts will look at the issue of self defence – and whether the actions of the accused were reasonable to protect the child or whether they went too far.
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“The big question will become at trial — whether or not their actions were reasonable in protecting their child and that’s going to be what this case is decided on,” she said.
Last April, the mother told Global News that frustration pushed her to take action against an alleged child predator.
“I went to the police and I asked them to come with me,” she said. “It’s not my job, it was theirs. That’s why I gave it to them to deal with.”
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The couple told Global News they tried for six weeks to get Port Alberni RCMP to intervene, and eventually staged their own sting on a man who allegedly sent nude photos and sexually-charged messages to their daughter.
“He messaged my daughter and asked her to meet. And I said ‘OK’ because I need an end to this.”
When police arrived to the scene of the takedown, their attention quickly turned from the man lying on the ground to the three people — the parents and another person — who put him there.
“You’re all being detained for assault right now,” an officer is heard saying in the Facebook Live video. “I’m sorry, so put your hands behind your back. All three of you.”
RCMP told Global News they were already investigating the alleged child luring before the alleged unlawful confinement incident at the home.
“Sometimes investigations take time and unfortunately, people have to show a little patience with that. But when we do it, we want to do it right,” Cpl. Amelia Hayden of Port Alberni RCMP said in April 2018.
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At the time, the mother said she did not regret her decisions.
“I don’t think I could’ve done anything else differently, only the police could’ve done something differently.”
Global News reached out to the mother and her partner on Sat. Jan. 5.
Her partner said they have hired a lawyer who has advised them not to comment on the charges. The couple’s Nanaimo lawyer, Bert King, could not be reached for comment.
-With files from Jon Azpiri and John Hua
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