In Calgary courts: Calgary man who lured 13-year-old over internet, had her send graphic photos handed prison term

Calgary Herald

14-07-2025

The traumatic upbringing and family history of a Calgary man who lured a teenage girl over the internet was not enough to keep him out of jail, a judge ruled Monday.
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Justice Jayme Williams said that while the 3½-year sentence sought by the Crown was excessive, a conditional sentence to be served in the community wouldn't adequately punish Jade Joven Fenton on charges of luring a minor and possession of child pornography.
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Defence counsel Andrew MacKenzie had sought the maximum conditional sentence of two years less a day for Fenton, but Williams said that wouldn't adequately reflect the consequences of his crimes.
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The Calgary Court of Justice judge acknowledged Fenton's tragic past, both personally and within his family history.
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At his sentencing hearing in May, MacKenzie put the offender's grandmother on the witness stand to detail the generations of sexual abuse family members endured.
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'It was not something that was ever dealt with.'
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She recalled initially learning about her grandfather abusing his own daughters.
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'I was sexually abused at seven years old by a foster sister, and at 12 years old by my uncle, and then at 17 years old I was raped by a motorcycle gang.'
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She told MacKenzie that created an element of distrust and inability to form relationships by members of her family, including Fenton.
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'My father was a pedophile and so was my mother.'
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Williams acknowledged Fenton, who is Metis and comes from an Indigenous family impacted by colonialism and residential school abuse, was also himself sexually molested as a child.
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But she said that didn't excuse his decision to take advantage of a 13-year-old girl who had gone to an online site for people looking for friends.
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Williams noted Fenton, 23 at the time, steered their internet discussions towards sex.
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'It was Mr. Fenton who converted the conversations from friendly to sexual by asking her for nude photographs,' the judge said.
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She also said the impact on the victim, identified in court as E.M., was severe.
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'It is clear she continues to process the emotional trauma resulting from these offences,' Williams said.
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She added, 'Often victims of luring feel they actively participated in their own abuse.'
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While the offender and victim never met, Fenton convinced the teen they were in love and would run away and get married when she turned 18.
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'Mr. Fenton has had a difficult life to this point … but he knew from the beginning that E.M. was 13,' Williams said.
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