PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. — A boy who repeatedly watched a violent scene from a well-known horror movie before stabbing his little sister several times in their home near Prince George, B.C., won't be going to prison.
The high-school-aged boy, who can't be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, recently pleaded guilty to attempted murder.
He was placed on an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision Order, which will last three years and is accompanied by nearly 30 conditions.
The order allows him to access as much as $100,000 in federal funds for rehabilitation programs.
Provincial court Judge Michael Brecknell said in his written ruling that nobody knows why the boy attacked his sister.
"He has been unable to explain the reasons for his actions to his parents, the youth probation officer, or the psychological experts," said Brecknell.
"The various people who have interacted with, examined, or assessed (him) since the attack have been unable to shed any light on what might have been the genesis or catalyst of his criminal behaviour and whether or not there is a quantifiable measurement of the risk he presents to act that way again in the future."
The boy was not verbally or physically abuse before his parents separated but witnessed physical aggression between them, said Brecknell.
The judge said when the boy's parents separated, his mother was living a self-destructive lifestyle, battling substance-abuse issues and absent from his life.
Brecknell said she regained her sobriety, returned to Prince George and began to reconcile with her children.
At the time of the attack, the boy was mad at his dad because he wasn't allowed to visit his half-brother or mother and was required to do household chores, said Brecknell.
He initially wanted to attack his father and got the idea from watching a scene from the movie "Halloween," in which a family is killed with a knife and baseball bat, said the judge.
But he attacked his sister instead on Sept. 20, 2013, while they were home, preparing for school, by grabbing a knife from the kitchen counter and stabbing his sister, who is three years younger.
While injured, she managed to get outside and flagged down a school bus, said Brecknell.
The judge said the girl could have died had she not received immediate medical care, noting she suffered a collapsed lung and multiple stab wounds in her back, arms, hands, legs and face, remaining in hospital for a week.
Brecknell said the girl has suffered psychological and emotional trauma, which has diminished, but has resisted attempts to talk about the incident with her mother and father and may have engaged in self-harm.
The judge's nearly 30 conditions prohibit the boy from possessing weapons, impose a 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew and forbid him from watching any TV shows or movies that haven't been approved by his youth worker.
He is currently not allowed to contact his sister or go within 50 metres of her school or workplace, but if and when contact is eventually allowed, he must leave her presence immediately when ordered to do so by police or youth workers.
Brecknell said the boy is worried he has ruined his sister's life, loves and misses her and wants to apologize in person.
