Kelowna woman sentenced for brutal robbery of sex worker

Photo: File photo

A woman accused of violent robbery of a sex worker in downtown Kelowna, causing “life-threatening” injuries, was sentenced to 21 months in jail Tuesday for the incident.

Police were called to the Petro-Canada on Harvey Avenue and Richter Street in the early morning hours of June 4, 2017, to find a woman suffering from “significant injuries to her face.”

The woman was drifting in and out of consciousness after she was taken to hospital, and was unable to initially give a statement to police. Once she became coherent, she told police she had been jumped by “Rutland Mel.”

On June 12, Melody Decoteau was arrested and charged with assault causing bodily harm and robbery.

“(The victim) and Ms. Decoteau has had some issues on the street in the preceding months,” Crown prosecutor Dan Blumenkrans told Justice Gary Weatherill Tuesday, explaining the circumstances of the incident.

“Ms. Decoteau approached her as she was walking down the street and started beating her. Ms. Decoteau called her a goof and told her she deserved to die and told her she was going to kill her.”

A man who was with the victim at the time told police that he knew Decoteau as a "debt collector," and he saw her punch and kick the victim while she was on the ground. 

The victim had recently conducted a “date” with a man, and she had made $200 from the interaction. After beating her, Decoteau stole the cash and the woman's bag.

In his submissions, Decoteau's defence lawyer Ben Lynskey explained a male drug dealer will sometimes direct a woman to “collect” money from female debtors. Lynskey said this is part of some type of “street code.”

The exact details of the victim's injuries were not disclosed during sentencing Tuesday, but back in 2017, police said they had the “potential to be life changing or life threatening in nature.”

While Tuesday's hearing was scheduled to be a bail review, Decoteau instead pleaded guilty to the robbery, as part of a plea deal that saw the Crown drop the assault causing bodily harm charge. The plea deal comes a month before she was scheduled to begin a 10-day jury trial.

The Crown and defence put forward a joint sentencing recommendation of 21 months jail for the robbery, followed by two years of probation. 

Lynskey told the court that the victim is “sadly still a victim of significant substance abuse and sex work in Northern Alberta,” and could not be located to testify.

Decoteau, who turns 43 on Wednesday, has a significant criminal record, including a prior conviction for assaulting a sex worker over a drug debt. She was on probation at the time of the 2017 attack.

Lynskey said Decoteau, a mother of two teenagers, has struggled with drug addiction after she was kicked out of her home at 12 years old. She plans to move in with a friend in the Lower Mainland once she's released, and work on developing a better relationship with her children.

“I’m getting too old for this, I’m terrified to use drugs again,” Decoteau told Justice Weatherill. “All I can do is my best.”

Justice Weatherill agreed to the joint submission, and with credit for time already served, Decoteau has just over seven months left to serve.