Quebec father who abducted young son sentenced to 10 years
A Quebec man who abducted his three-year-old son and triggered a massive Amber Alert in the rural town of Sainte-Paule, Que., last August has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The father appeared in a courthouse in Matane in the Gaspé region Thursday morning where a judge accepted the recommendations of Crown prosecutors, a day after the man pleaded guilty to several charges and avoided going to trial.
The 36-year-old man was charged with kidnapping, attempted murder using a prohibited weapon and attempting to harm peace officers with a firearm. He pleaded guilty to five firearms related charges as well as charges of uttering threats against peace officers, breaking and entering to commit theft and holding and detaining a child under the age of 14.
From Aug. 31 to Sept. 4 the man and his son were the subjects of the longest Amber Alert in Quebec history. For days, 400 police officers, helicopters and ATVs scoured a heavily wooded area on the west side of the Gaspé peninsula about 400 kilometres north of Quebec City.
After six days of searching, police located the man inside a home in Sainte-Paule where a 24-hour standoff ensued. He was eventually arrested on Sept. 5 and the boy was safely returned to his mother.
Due to time served since his arrest, the man faces nine years and three months in prison. He will not be eligible for parole until he's served a third of the 10-year sentence.
