Red paint vandal who hit 4 churches after residential school graves found gets 3 months

A vandal who threw red paint on four Calgary churches a day after the announced discovery of 182 unmarked residential school graves was motivated by an Indigenous childhood spent in Venezuela's Catholic system, according to an agreed statement of facts.

Sebastian Rodriguez-Huerta was handed a three-month sentence, to be served at home under conditions, followed by nine months probation.

The fourth-year university student had pleaded guilty to hate-motivated mischief.  

"The vandalism was motivated by his childhood of growing up in Catholic churches, feeling as though he was lied to and his anger toward the discovery of mass graves and support for the Indigenous community," reads part of the agreed statement of facts.

• Calgary police charge man in 2 cases of church vandalism
• 182 unmarked graves discovered near residential school in B.C.'s Interior, First Nation says

On June 30, 2021, one of the Ktunaxa Nation's four bands announced it had identified 182 unmarked graves near the former St. Eugene Mission School using ground-penetrating radar. 

Early the next day, Rodriguez-Huerta targeted four churches in and around Calgary's Beltline, spraying red paint on the doors, signs and, in one case, a statue of Jesus.

The vandals first hit St. Mary's Cathedral around 2:30 a.m., writing "182" in red paint above the front entrance.

Next, the churches of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Grace Presbyterian and Sacred Heart were targeted.

The statue of Jesus at Sacred Heart Church in Sunalta was covered in red paint.

More than a month later, while at the Calgary courthouse on an unrelated matter, a CPS detective noticed Rodriguez-Huerta with a group of people at a Black Lives Matter protest.

Det. Mat Batchelor believed he recognized Rodriguez-Huerta from security camera footage gathered from the church sites, so he took photos. After reviewing images from the courthouse, sheriffs pointed out Rodriguez-Huerta was wearing the same bag in the vandalism videos.

Accused admitted to vandalism

From there, police identified Rodriguez-Huerta through his social media accounts and obtained a search warrant for his home. 

During the search, they seized black shorts with red paint splatter from Rodriguez-Huerta's bedroom as well as the beige bag he carried at both the vandalism scenes and the Black Lives Matter protests.

Rodriguez-Huerta was arrested on Sept. 14. He admitted to police that he had committed the acts of vandalism.

Rodriguez-Huerta, now 25, was raised in Caracas and moved to Canada as a teenager. 

According to submissions made by his lawyer at the sentencing hearing, Rodriguez-Huerta grew up as a practicing Catholic and an Indigenous Venezuelan who felt betrayed by the church.

Not the appropriate sanction, says lawyer

After he pleaded guilty to hate-motivated mischief, sentencing submissions took place earlier this year.

Prosecutor William Tran proposed a suspended sentence, where Rodriguez-Huerta would serve no time unless he breached conditions during a probation period.

Defence lawyer Chad Haggerty asked Justice Paul Mason to consider a conditional discharge. In that scenario, Rodriguez-Huerta would not have a conviction registered on his criminal record after serving a probationary period. 

Mason's sentence was stiffer than what both the Crown and defence had proposed.

"Jail, even in the form of a compassionate conditional sentence order, should be reserved for those where jail is the only option," said Haggerty. "I didn't believe that was the case here and I still don't believe it's the appropriate sanction."

Haggerty says he has not ruled out filing an appeal.