A Crown prosecutor wants a 14-year jail sentence for Vancouver man convicted of five charges relating to sexual assaults of a girl starting when she was nine years old.
On July 27, 2022, Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Kathryn Denhoff initially convicted Preston Cody Dickins of sexual assault, sexual interference of a person under 16, invitation to sexual touching under 16, making or publishing child pornography and possession of child pornography.
A sentencing hearing for Dickins, set to take place in September, has now been delayed for the fifth time as Dickins has again hired a new lawyer.
Dickins now has Mo Vayeghan as his lawyer. Denhoff granted him an adjournment Aug. 25 to get up to speed on the case. A new sentencing date is expected to be confirmed Aug. 29.
“The stakes for Mr. Dickins are extremely high,” Vayeghan told Denhoff. “Mr. Dickins is facing a significant jail sentence.”
“This matter has to be completed... I don’t want this to go into 2024.”
Some of offences took place in a room Dickins at times shared with his young son.
The judge rejected Dickins' testimony in the case, much of it claiming the child had initiated the sex, images of which police found on his phone.
Dickins also claimed he had taken the images so he could show them to the child's mother if she continued to initiate the sex.
“I reject Mr. Dickins’ testimony that (she) initiated the sexual activity,” Denhoff said in her July conviction.
Police also found 3,400 other images on the phone. Dickins admitted they fit the definition of child pornography but claimed he did not know how they had got on the phone, the judge said in her decision.
“Mr. Dickens’ entire testimony was entirely unbelievable and bordered on preposterous,” Denhoff said, adding in some cases the abuse went on for hours.
Glacier Media has chosen to omit many details of the case.
The child’s name and any identifying information are covered by a publication ban.
