Calgary man given community sentence for luring teens he met online

The Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary, Alta., Monday, March 11, 2019.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

An Alberta judge has given a Calgary man a two-year sentence, to be served in the community, for engaging in sexually explicit conversations with two teens more than four years ago.

Richard McCleary was arrested and charged as part of a sting by members of the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams that targeted child porn offences.

McCleary was arrested after he engaged in a sexually explicit conversation with two teens, one of which was a 14-year-old girl, known as A.L., who responded to a Kijiji ad he posted asking for a "babysitter for hire" on May 9, 2020.

Justice A.J. Brown, in her reasons, said police recovered 28 messages of a sexual nature McCleary exchanged with A.L. and 30 messages of a similar nature with a 15-year-old identified as S.

At the time of the conversations, McCleary was 60 years old, but told his victims he was 49, Brown said.

McCleary pleaded guilty to luring on Dec. 5, 2022, more than two years after he was charged, a fact that Brown said affected the mitigating factor of his plea.

She also said the entire court proceedings against McCleary was much longer than the criminal act itself.

"Mr. Cleary's entire crime took place over 17 days, two incidents lasting a few hours and a third, for most of a day," Brown wrote.

Meanwhile, the initial hearing to sentencing in the case took more than four years to resolve, with McCleary firing six lawyers and being denied Legal Aid representation for his sentencing.

At court, the Crown argued he should serve 18 months in prison, followed by two years' probation.

Without any defence counsel, Brown relied on a sentencing brief in the case that submitted a community safety order of between 18 months and two years less one day would be an appropriate sentence.

The judge based her decision on the fact that a denunciation of McCleary's actions could be expressed through such an order, given that the accused posed a low risk to reoffend, was abiding by all his court conditions and continues to have family and community support.

"In Mr. McCleary, his articulated remorse is more accurately described as regret: he is undeniably and profoundly shattered by the personal devastation he has suffered as the result of his conduct," Brown wrote.

"Obeying stringent bail conditions is not a mitigating factor but it is an important consideration when assessing potential danger to the community if a CSO is imposed.

"Mr. McCleary has been completely compliant with his restrictive release conditions for the four-and-a-half years it has taken to conclude his case."

McCleary was also given two years' probation.