Melvin Dale Koroluk pleaded guilty December 13 to a revised charge of abducting a child under 16.
The charge relates to an incident that occurred July 6, 2011 at the Yorkton Exhibition. Koroluk allegedly lured an 11-year-old girl to his car with the promise to pay for the child to play games. He drove her outside of town and parked. The girl managed to escape and was later found in a field.
A few days later, the girl saw Koroluk on the street in Yorkton and identified him to her mother. Police arrested him on charges of kidnapping and assault.
A subsequent RCMP search of his home yielded guns and he was also charged with an unrelated count of unsafe storage of a firearm.
At Court of Queen's Bench in Yorkton Thursday, the Crown, represented by Darren Grindle, withdrew the original kidnapping charge and presented the new indictment.
Abduction of a child under sixteen is a charge under the Criminal Code of Canada Section 280 that reads:
"Every one who, without lawful authority, takes or causes to be taken an unmarried person under the age of sixteen years out of the possession of and against
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the will of the parent or guardian of that person or of any other person who has the lawful care or charge of that person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years."
Kidnapping on the other hand carries a maximum penalty of life with a minimum of five years.
Nearly a year and a half of consultations between the Crown, defence and Madam Justice C.L. Dawson arrived at the new lesser charge.
Although original reports suggested Koroluck was "known to police," the then-57 year old does not have a criminal record and has never been charged with an offence.
Although prosecution and defence counsels were able to agree on the charge, defence attorney Dave Rusnak reported to the Court they had been unable to arrive at a joint submission regarding sentencing. He requested a pre-sentence report. Pre-sentence reports are written by a probation officer and include interviews with the defendant, victims and other individuals, such as police officers, who may have pertinent information that may be useful to the Court. They contain personal information about the accused, such as criminal record, employment, family and community support and access to professional treatment. They may make recommendations on sentencing that may or may not be accepted by a judge.
After determining that Koroluk was making his plea voluntarily, Dawson accepted the guilty plea and ordered the pre-sentence report.
The Crown requested and Dawson granted a publication ban on the name of the victim and the names of anyone involved in the case that might lead to the identity of the now-12 year old girl.
Koroluk will appear again at Court of Queen's Bench on March 8, 2013 for his sentencing hearing.
