By paNOW

Woman sentenced for stealing TV from hospital pediatric ward

Aug 11, 2017 | 9:00 AM

A Sturgeon Lake woman who used a stroller to steal a flat-screen television from the pediatric ward of a hospital was given a six-month conditional sentence order and a hefty fine yesterday by a Prince Albert judge.

Kendra Desjarlais, 26, pleaded guilty to five theft charges which ranged in seriousness from pushing a cart loaded with $465 in merchandise out of Walmart, to walking out of the Sturgeon Lake Store & Gas Bar with a drink she hadn’t paid for.

Prosecutor Gail Douglas said most of the thefts were not especially concerning to the Crown, but said stealing the television from a hospital was “so brazen” that it required a more serious sentence.

Douglas said Desjarlais and her then-boyfriend arrived at the third-floor pediatric wing of Saskatoon’s Royal University Hospital with a stroller on the morning of April 11, 2016, and when they left a 40” television was missing from the waiting room. When staff reviewed the security footage, Douglas said they could clearly see a large, rectangular object concealed under a blanket in the stroller, and recognized Desjarlais because she was registered at the hospital.

Defence lawyer Terra Lennox-Zepp said Desjarlais stole to provide for her four children, as they did not have enough food at home. Desjarlais, she said, has no criminal record and only took the television because she was ordered to by an abusive ex-boyfriend.

Event Centre funding

City may hire lobbyist for event centre money

1h ago

International honours

Raiders' Kubiesa to represent Czechia at IIHF U18 Men's World Championship

5h ago

Learn the signs

How often should you change your brakes?

9h ago

Judge Steven Schiefner said the evidence indicated Desjarlais was a willing participant in the thefts, and said she had shown “a general avoidance of responsibility” by missing court on several occasions. Based on an agreement between the Crown and defence, Schiefner imposed a six-month conditional sentence which will be served in the community. Desjarlais will be required to abide by a curfew for the duration of her sentence, and was ordered to pay $1,300 in fines.

“You might not have had a record before,” Schiefner told Desjarlais, “but you certainly do now.”

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews