Sean Kirkham, missing-women memorial organizer, sentenced to house arrest
CBC News | Posted: May 8, 2014 1:39 PM | Last Updated: May 8, 2014
Kirkham promised to install street plaques to commemorate missing and murdered women
The man at the centre of an unfinished memorial project for murdered and missing native women in B.C. has been sentenced after pleading guilty to unrelated fraud and theft charges in a Montreal court.
Sean Kirkham promised to install street plaques to commemorate missing and murdered women around Vancouver as part of the so-called "Living Stones" memorial project.
However, a CBC exclusive report last year found most of the plaques were never installed and that Kirkham was a convicted criminal, facing theft, fraud and forgery charges in B.C. and Quebec.
In October of last year, the City of Vancouver announced it will be completing the memorial project. Kirkham faces no criminal charges for his handling of the "Living Stones" project.
However, last October in a Montreal court Kirkham pleaded guilty to six charges for unrelated crimes dating back to 2007. The charges included fraud, theft under $5000, identity theft, forgery and possessing, using or trafficking a forged or falsified credit card.
He also pleaded guilty to four charges transferred from Whistler, including two counts of fraud, one count of theft, and one count of theft over $5000.
On Tuesday he was sentenced to two years less a day. Instead of jail time, Kirkham will serve eight months under house arrest in Vancouver, after which he will have to abide by a curfew.
Judge Hélène Morin also ordered Kirkham perform community service. He will be allowed out of his home to attend that work, and for court appearances, medical emergencies and to make "subsistence purchases".
The judge noted Kirkham is a risk to reoffend.
Interviewed by CBC News outside the courthouse, Kirkham said, "These charges date back to 2007. I have been living with this every single day since then. It's time for me to close that chapter of my life and move on."
"Some people ask, 'Can a leopard change their spots, you know? Or can they adapt?' And that's my answer to those people."