David Raymond Couture has been sentenced to 18-months probation after being found guilty of propositioning a 14-year-old Quesnel girl.
Couture was sentenced Monday in Quesnel provincial court for one count of invitation to sexual touching in relation to the April 28, 2010 incident.
According to testimony, Couture, 49, approached and sexually propositioned a 14-year-old girl in the library. He then engaged the young girl in conversation and offered to bring her back to his van.
The young girl informed the library staff of the incident and they called the RCMP who responded immediately and apprehended Couture.
In September, Couture was convicted of assault on a Observer reporter when she took his picture outside the courthouse in June 2010. He was sentenced to one-day in jail and one-year probation.
In the Lower Mainland in 2003 Couture was convicted and later acquitted of second-degree murder of two women, Darlinda Lee Ritchey, 27 and Karen Ann Baker, 20 and sentenced to life in prison without parole for 16 years.
During the murder trial, the court heard testimony Couture killed Ritchey after a two-year relationship when she decided to leave him and killed Baker who was sleeping over at Ritchey’s apartment.
However, in 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada ordered a new trial after Couture’s wife’s testimony was deemed inadmissible.
Couture met his wife while in prison for robbery in 1989. She was working as a spiritual counsellor.
According to testimony, after the couple was married, Couture confessed to the murders. The pair split and she went to the police.
However, the couple later reconciled and she chose not to testify at the trial. Instead, her testimony was taped and entered as evidence.
The appeal of Couture’s conviction was based on the fact a wife cannot testify against her husband, unless she is the victim of the offence.
The appeal was successful and Couture was acquitted of the double-murder due to lack of evidence.