B.C. caregiver avoids jail time for death of woman with disability in her care
Astrid Dahl handed conditional sentence with curfew for failing to provide necessities of life
A B.C. caregiver has avoided jail time for her role in the death of a developmentally disabled woman in her home nearly four years ago.
Charlotte Astrid Dahl was handed a 12-month conditional sentence in B.C. Supreme Court on Thursday for failing to provide the necessaries of life for the woman, who was found dead on Oct. 13, 2018.
A conditional sentence is one served in the community instead of behind bars.
Police had said the woman, 54, had a "severe" disability and needed around-the-clock care. She was in care for most of her life and had been living with Dahl when she died.
RCMP did not specify the cause of death.
The criminal charge of failing to provide the necessaries of life applies when a guardian, spouse or caregiver denies adequate food, shelter, medical care or protection from harm to a person in their care.
Dahl, who is from Port Coquitlam, B.C., was convicted on that charge in July. She was acquitted of criminal negligence causing death.
Conditions of Dahl's sentence include counselling and following a curfew. She was also sentenced to 100 hours of community service.
She will be on probation for another year after her one-year term ends.
The society which hired Dahl as a contractor initially faced its own count of failing to perform a legal duty to provide necessaries. The charge was stayed in 2020.