Crown seeks to appeal Donnie Snook child sex abuse sentence

Former Saint John city councillor Donnie Snook appears in court in Corner Brook, N.L., Aug. 19, 2013.

FREDERICTON -- The Crown is seeking to appeal the sentence handed to a former city councillor in Saint John, N.B., convicted of sexually abusing boys, saying the judge erred in law.

Donnie Snook was sentenced in September to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to 46 charges including sexual assault and possessing, distributing and making child pornography over a 12-year period.

Snook filed notice of appeal last month, saying his sentence was unreasonable and in excess of the appropriate range.

Crown prosecutor Karen Lee Lamrock is also seeking to appeal, saying the trial judge erred by giving too much credit for time Snook had served in custody prior to sentencing.

In her notice of cross-appeal, Lamrock says the judge also failed to consider a section of the Criminal Code that would require an offender to serve half their sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, before becoming eligible for parole.

When he was sentenced in provincial court, Snook was given 1 1/2 credit for time served, reducing his prison sentence to 16 years and 10 months, and he would be eligible for parole after serving one-third of that.

Snook is due in court on Tuesday for sentencing on four other sexual abuse charges from a separate case in western Newfoundland.