Citing a previous case with local connections, a judge has rejected a Crown-defence joint submission in sentencing a Barrie woman who pleaded guilty to defrauding her employer of $80,000.
Chelsea Dallaway, 36, was handed an 18-month conditional sentence order by Madame Justice Sarah Tarcza for stealing from a local daycare operator.
Dallaway had pleaded guilty earlier to a single count of fraud over $5,000. She came before the court with no criminal record and a long history of working for the defrauded business, Growing Minds Academy, located on Mapleview Drive West in Barrie’s south end.
Dallaway will serve the first year under strict home confinement. Conditions will be loosened for the remaining six months, followed by two years of probation.
Tarcza cited aggravating factors for why she could not accept a joint submission for a one-year conditional sentence, with just three months under home confinement.
“I don’t feel the length, time or terms” were appropriate, Tarcza said from the bench, while allowing Dallaway to serve a conditional sentence rather than a custodial one, effectively house arrest instead of jail time.
Tarcza was clearly uncomfortable from the outset by the lenient terms originally proposed. After hearing the rest of the sentencing submissions and taking some time to consider her decision, the judge added significantly more teeth.
“It is a very significant amount of money,” said Tarcza, adding “…the breach of trust is extremely aggravating.”
In the earlier local case called Henn, a woman was originally sentenced to a year in jail by Ontario Madame Justice Angela McLeod for defrauding a Barrie business where she worked between 2013 and 2016. The Ontario Court of Appeal later reduced the sentence to a two-year conditional sentence order – six months longer than what Dallaway ultimately got Tuesday.
Though the cases were similar, they were not identical. The earlier case involved a fraud of about half the amount of money over twice the period in which Dallaway perpetuated her theft. It was Tarcza who raised the disparity between the joint submission and what had already been established in the Henn case.
“I’m not entirely sure what to say,” said Crown attorney Shannon Curry when Tarcza pointed out the disparity, adding “…nonetheless this is the Crown position.”
For his part, Dallaway’s lawyer, Gerry Smits, concurred.
“It doesn’t put the administration of justice into disrepute,” Smits told the court of the joint submission.
Tarcza clearly had a different take and made the relatively rare move of discarding the terms of a joint submission, which is the Canadian equivalent of a plea bargain.
Court heard that Dallaway was treated like family by her now-former employer. She declined an opportunity to address the court, left soon after it was adjourned and could be seen making her way to her vehicle in tears while talking on her phone.
Though the direct connection was not made, there was a inference by Smits, and acknowledged by Tarcza in her remarks while passing sentence, that Dallaway stole at least some of the money to fund a cocaine addiction.
Court heard evidence that Dallaway made little effort to cover her tracks, transferring funds from her employer’s account directly to her own, and using company bank and credit cards for her own benefit. She bought items such as gift cards and fast food.
The case was originally slated for resolution last month, but a mix-up in getting the victim impact statement filed with the court led to a three-week delay.
The daycare owner was not in court, but had representatives there on her behalf. She elected not to read her victim impact statement via video feed, instead filing it directly with the court.
Dallaway has paid back $3,000 of the misappropriated funds and is subject to a $77,000 restitution order, as well as being forbidden from contacting the victim.
