Justin Sewell handed prison time after sentencing appeal

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The sentencing decision for a veterinarian who is guilty of sexual assault has been overturned.

Justin Sewell, who pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and two counts of voyeurism in 2022, is now set to spend 33 months less a day in prison.

Sewell was initially sentenced to two years less a day for the sexual assault, a six-month sentence for the first voyeurism charge and a three-month sentence for the second.

All three were to be served concurrently as part of a conditional sentence order. A conditional sentence is one to be served outside of jail under strict conditions, sometimes called ‘house arrest.’

The B.C. Prosecution Service, at the time, was seeking a cumulative sentence of four and a half years’ imprisonment. The judge presiding over the case concluded there was ‘compelling mitigation’ despite Sewell’s moral culpability for the offences being high.

“I find the cooperation with [the victim] by [Sewell] is significant,” the judge said at the time. “Without his cooperation and willingness to admit his offences […] there could have been no prosecution.”

The BC Prosecution Service appealed that sentence decision soon after, arguing the sentencing judge overstated the mitigating effects of Sewell’s confession, allowed his confession to “overwhelm the analysis” and that imposing concurrent sentences for the voyeurism charges failed to recognize the harm those offences caused.

They also claimed the sentencing judge made an error in principle by imposing concurrent sentences in order to allow Sewell to be issued a conditional sentence order. 

Conditional sentence orders can only be issued for cumulative sentences less than two years, and before considering one, judges must assess the appropriate range of available sentences and exclude the possibility of probation or a term of imprisonment lasting two years or more.

Prosecutors argued a roughly three-year sentence would be appropriate for the sexual assault charge, and the terms for voyeurism should be served consecutively, rather than concurrently, leading to a cumulative sentence between three and four years of prison time.

Sewell’s position, meanwhile, was that the sentencing judge weighed all the relevant factors correctly and made no errors in principle. He felt their decision should be assessed on a “highly deferential standard” and the appeal should be dismissed.

In the appeal decision, the Honourable Justice Lisa A. Warren disagreed with the Crown regarding the notion that the sentencing judge overstated the mitigating effects or allowed his confession to overwhelm the analysis.

However, Justice Warren did find the judge made errors in principle by imposing cumulative sentences for the voyeurism charges.

As such, she ultimately granted the appeal, substituting Sewell’s initial sentence for two years less a day of imprisonment for sexual assault, six months’ imprisonment for the first voyeurism charge and three months’ imprisonment for the second.

The newly issued sentences will be served consecutively, starting from April 4th, 2025.

“I would leave it to the correctional authorities to calculate the amount of credit the respondent is statutorily entitled to for time already served on the [conditional sentence order],” Justice Warren said. 

“The intention is that for the purposes of statutory release, the respondent be treated as an offender who received a cumulative sentence of 33 months (less one day) when the sentences were imposed on April 4th, 2025.”

Court documents say Sewell assaulted the victim — who was 20 years old at the time — in June 2007 in Charlie Lake.

Sewell reportedly “offered to provide a safe environment for [the victim] to get drunk for the first time,” then added ketamine or diazepam to one of her drinks.

After the drug rendered her incapacitated, Sewell sexually assaulted her, removed her clothing and took roughly 30 photographs of her naked body.

In 2019, the victim reported the incident to the RCMP, which led to a police investigation that lasted for multiple years.

Police proposed the victim become a “police agent” in an effort to get a confession from Sewell in 2021, leading to her emailing Sewell saying a conversation with him would be the only way she could move on from the incident.

Sewell agreed to speak with her, and flew to Vancouver to meet with her in a restaurant in October 2021. There, he confessed the details of the incident to her and also revealed having taken additional pictures of her through her bedroom window.

Sewell was also issued a firearm prohibition, a DNA order and a victim surcharge as part of his initial sentencing. None of those orders were included in the appeal.