B.C. man sentenced for ‘very serious sexual offences’ against five women

Joel Eric Carlson, 28, is charged with 11 counts of sexual assault and one count of assault, all of them stemming from an investigation that began last fall, according to Kamloops RCMP. (Photo provided by Vernon RCMP)

Warning: This story contains disturbing details.

A B.C. man found guilty of six sexual assaults against five female victims has been sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison.

Joel Eric Carlson was found guilty after a trial by jury last year and sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops earlier this month.

“These were very serious sexual offences, punctuated by multiple aggravating features,” Justice W. Paul Riley wrote in his sentencing decision,

“All five victims were significantly impacted, traumatized, by Mr. Carlson’s conduct. Each of the offences involved a serious violation of the victim’s bodily integrity and sexual autonomy, and some of the counts involved the use of physical force to control or subdue the victim.”

After credit for time served, Carlson is set to serve an additional eight years and four months behind bars.

The sentencing decision contains detailed descriptions of the sexual assaults and the impact on the victims – all of whom Carlson knew, some of whom he had a romantic relationship with.

The women who provided victim impact statements to the court described the wide-ranging emotional and psychological impact the attacks had on their lives which included insomnia, shame, loss of self-esteem, persistent fear, an inability to trust, and flashbacks.

The judge described all the assaults, committed between 2013 and 2018, as “highly intrusive.” Four of the six convictions were for raping a woman without a condom, and several “involved the abuse of vulnerable victims who were asleep or incapacitated,” the judge wrote.

Crown and defence agreed Carson should serve five consecutive sentences, corresponding to the five separate victims, but presented the court with different arguments about the appropriate length of the penitentiary term.

Crown argued Carlson should be sentenced to 14 years, which would amount to 11 years and 11 months behind bars after credit for time served.

“The Crown emphasizes the degree of sexual violence involved, and the significant impact that the offences have had on the victims. Crown counsel says denunciation and deterrence are the most pressing sentencing objectives,” the judge wrote.

Carlon’s defence asked for a sentence of seven years and seven months, which would result in a sentence of an additional five years and six months – urging the court to take his personal circumstances into consideration and to avoid imposing a sentence that would be “so crushing as to undermine his prospects at rehabilitation.”

Carlson’s Indigenous heritage, “turbulent” upbringing, relatively young age and lack of a criminal record at the time the crimes were committed – as well as his efforts at and prospects for rehabilitation – were among the factors the court was asked to consider when determining a fit sentence.

Carlson’s remorseful remarks to the court at sentencing, which the judge found “heartfelt and genuine” were also noted.

The judge calculated a fit sentence on each of the counts which amounted to 11 years and five months in prison. This, Riley wrote, was not “entirely out of proportion to the seriousness of Mr. Carlson’s offending behaviour and his degree of moral responsibility.”

However, the judge did decide to reduce the sentence.

“I conclude that a sentence of more than 11 years would be crushing. In the long run, society is best served by a sentence that advances the interests of rehabilitation, so long as that can be accomplished in a manner that also reflects the objectives of proportionality, denunciation, and deterrence,” he wrote.

In addition to the prison sentence, Carlson will be required to register as a sex offender for life, and to provide a DNA sample.

In 2020, Carlson was arrested for sexual assault in Vernon and police issued a media release soon after, appealing for other victims to come forward.

Carlson was convicted for the 2020 sexual assault in 2022 and handed a 12-month conditional sentence. He would later breach the court-ordered conditions and be required to serve the last stretch of the sentence in jail.

However, the 2022 conviction could not be considered by the court at his most recent sentencing.

“Mr. Carlson had no prior criminal record when he committed the offences for which he is now being sentenced,” a footnote to the June 11 decision said.