A former Victoria licensed practical nurse convicted of assaulting three residents of the Selkirk Seniors Village last year has not reported to his probation officer since early July, B.C. Supreme Court heard this week.
James Edward Christie was sentenced to six months in jail followed by 18 months of probation in November 2016.
Four months earlier, provincial court Judge Lisa Mrozinski found Christie struck and used uninvited and unnecessary force against the three patients, who were bedridden and in advanced states of dementia in April and May 2015.
“You struck at the private parts of two of the victims, causing them obvious pain. You caused the third victim to moan when you pressed your torso into her face, which you had covered with a blanket,” Mrozinski said.
“These acts were intentional, cruel and, quite frankly, sadistic in their nature. The residents you assaulted were the most vulnerable of an otherwise vulnerable population.”
Christie appealed his conviction and sentence the next day. He was released from the Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre a week later on $1,000 bail without any sureties. Christie’s bail conditions did not require him to surrender his passport or to remain in B.C.
On Oct. 10, 2017, a warrant was issued for his arrest. The warrant says there are reasonable and probable grounds to believe that Christie has “violated or is about to violate the recognizance upon which he was released.” It instructs police to arrest Christie and bring him before any judge in the province.
Christie did not show up in court on Wednesday for the continuation of his appeal, which began in May.
“Mr. Christie has effectively absconded and there has been no contact with him,” Crown prosecutor Pinder Cheema told Justice Jennifer Power.
“The bail supervisor contacted me about a week and a half ago and confirmed he hadn’t had any contact with him since his last report on July 4.”
There is no obligation for Christie to attend the hearing, Cheema said. The Criminal Code requires an accused person to be present for his trial, but even accused people in custody are not brought in for their appeal, she noted.
Christie’s lawyer, Geof Simair, confirmed he has lost contact with his client.
“But then the question becomes what is to be done when we are about 85 per cent through the conviction appeal,” Simair said.
After much reflection, Simair said he would continue with the conviction appeal, but if it’s unsuccessful, he will not appeal Christie’s sentence.
“I don’t know where he is or what’s happened, but given that he’s no longer around, the sentence appeal is something I don’t feel I should continue with,” Simair said.
Family members of the victims, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, sat in the front row of the public gallery for the hearing.
Power has reserved her decision.
Christie, 26, had no previous criminal record. His nursing licence has been suspended and he had been taking business courses.
