REGINA – Priscilla Wasacase is a “textbook case for the application of Gladue principles,” said Judge Noah Evanchuk when sentencing the Indigenous woman to eight years in prison.
After 30-year-old Wasacase completes her prison sentence, she will be placed on a 10-year Long-Term Supervision Order (LTSO), which is reserved for high-risk offenders.
“Ms. Wasacase presents with a personal history that contains horrific trauma that was visited upon her from the earliest of ages,” said Judge Evanchuk in his Jan. 23 written decision in Regina Provincial Court.
“She was the product of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse from direct family members. She was exposed to racism and differential treatment at school. She had little in the way of proper supports or care.
“It is a testament to her personal resilience that Ms. Wasacase is alive today,” he said. “It would be a gross understatement to suggest that the offender had a troubled childhood.
“From the time of her birth to the present, Wasacase has been the victim of horrific physical, sexual and emotional abuse. She lacked stability in her formative years, having been moved between various relatives and households where she struggled to find normalcy. She was exposed at the earliest age to substance abuse, neglect and feelings of separation from those people who ought to have been providing a loving home environment for her. It is little surprise that by the time she was a teenager, Priscilla Wasacase was displaying warning signs of pre-criminal behaviour.”
When Wasacase was born in Regina in August 1993, she was immediately the subject of an emergency protection order but was taken from hospital by her parents to be raised in the care of a sister on the George Gordon First Nation.
She moved around a lot in her early years, and when she was three, she suffered a severe trauma when her aunt tried to drown her in a bathtub, court heard.
“For the next seven years following this incident, Wasacase was the victim of grooming and sexual assault at the hands of her maternal grandfather while living on reserve. This sexual abuse involved manipulation, threats and other means of silencing Wasacase from disclosing her trauma to others.”
Wasacase didn’t have a close relationship with her father because he was in prison when she was a child. Her relationship with her mother was also strained.
Both of her parents suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction. They both passed away when she was in her 20s.
Wasacase struggled in school because of the constant moving and instability when she was a child, court heard.
Wasacase started abusing substances at the age of 12 and has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction all of her life.
A life of crime: Judge
“Priscilla Wasacase’s criminal history commenced when she was 12 and has continued without interruption, save for time spent incarcerated, until the time of the present offence,” said Judge Evanchuk.
“Between the age of 15 and the current offence, she has spent only 28 months of cumulative time outside some form of correctional facility.”
Wasacase’s criminal record shows a pattern of violent behaviour that worsens when she drinks or does drugs, he said.
Recent conviction
Judge Evanchuk accepted the eight-year joint sentencing submission followed by a 10-year LTSO from Senior Crown Prosecutor Adam Breker and defence counsel Taylor Bereziak on Jan. 23 after Wasacase pleaded guilty to the violent robbery of a taxi driver in Regina.
The taxi driver had picked up two women in his cab at about 5:45 a.m. on June 17, 2022, at a Tim Horton’s near the intersection of 7th Ave. and Albert Street. Dashcam video captured the violent incident.
Wasacase asked the taxi driver to take her and the other passenger to 1916 Park Street. While driving there, Wasacase, who was seated next to him, pulled out a knife and held it against his neck and demanded cash. Wasacase can be heard on the dashcam recording saying, “we’re going to [expletive] roll ya.”
The taxi driver can be seen on the video reacting calmly to the threat of the knife against his neck. He immediately pulled the car to the side of the road and told Wasacase that he wouldn’t give her any money because she wasn’t strong enough to rob him. He grabbed Wasacase by the hand, bent her fingers back and took the knife from her.
Wasacase stole a debit/credit machine and phone from the console and then fled. The taxi driver chased her and kicked her several times before she got away.
Wasacase was identified through the in-car video and the victim’s description of her tattoos. She was arrested by members of Regina Police Service on July 13, 2022.
Judge Evanchuk banned Wasacase from owning firearms or weapons for life and ordered her to provide her DNA to the RCMP National DNA Data Bank.
She was given 1.5 days credit for each day she spent on remand since her arrest in July 2022.
Treatment provides hope
During Wasacase’s sentencing hearing, the Crown called three witnesses, including a forensic psychiatrist and two people from Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).
Dr. Maryana Kravtsenyuk from the Toronto Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, who specializes in the treatment of offenders deemed Not Criminally Responsible, testified that Wasacase suffered extreme amounts of trauma at an early age, including physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
Wasacase also experienced pre-natal compromise, the effects of inter-generational trauma, and severe addiction.
Dr. Kravtsenyuk provided a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder with Borderline Personality Disorder traits. Dr. Kravtsenyuk said some of Wasacase’s maladaptive personality traits can’t be cured and she will require life-long medical/psychiatric care.
Dr. Kravtsenyuk found, however, that despite Wasacase’s cognitive and emotional deficits, she is still capable of successfully completing programming and recovery.
A parole officer supervisor from CSC told the court that the conditions of the LTSO are determined by the parole board, in consultation with a parole officer.
LTSO conditions are stringent and hold offenders to abstention conditions that are monitored by random screens at a contracted facility, court heard. In addition, the offenders are monitored for their associations and the necessity of follow-up treatment for addictions.
Under the LTSO, Wasacase will be able to access intensive programming, court heard.
“Her corrections history filed during this proceeding demonstrates that Wasacase is open to further treatment for substance abuse, trauma-informed therapy and culturally sensitive training,” said Judge Evanchuk.
This story by SASKTODAY first published on Feb. 4, 2024.
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