A Stephenville Crossing man convicted for his involvement in a money scam had his sentencing delayed after pleading guilty to unrelated sex offences Friday.
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Thomas Stanley Craig Young, 51, was found guilty in early February of five offences stemming from a so-called romance scam he was part of in 2016.
The scam involved him depositing a fraudulent cheque for $75,360 at a Stephenville bank. Instead of falling victim to the scam by forwarding the money to the originators of the online scam, Young decided to turn the tables and purchased a truck, an ATV and two snowmobiles with the bogus deposit.
In addition to fraud over $5,000, Young was found guilty after a trial of four counts of possessing items obtained by crime.
When he appeared before Justice George Murphy of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook for a scheduled sentencing hearing Friday, Young’s lawyer Shelley Senior indicated there had been a change of plans.
Young had been scheduled to go to trial in April on seven sex-related charges. Instead, he changed his pleas to guilty to four of those offences and Crown attorney Susan Gallant conditionally withdrew the remaining three, pending conviction.
Three of the charges allege that Young sexually assaulted a minor, touched her for a sexual purpose with his mouth and obtained her sexual services for consideration. The latter offence refers to an agreement to obtain sexual services in exchange for money or another consideration, such as alcohol or drugs.
The victim was under the age of 16 when the offences allegedly took place in late 2015.
The fourth charge against Young alleges that, while acting as a surety for another person, he aided in that person breaching a court order.
The two charges withdrawn by the Crown included the offences of Internet luring and possession of child pornography.
Young’s sentencing on the fraud charges will now be done at the same time as his sentencing on the sex charges.
The court had a hard time finding a time in the near future when all of the parties could be available for a sentencing hearing. They decided to tentatively set the hearing for March 29 as some court time that is currently booked might get freed up before that date.
