A Richmond woman has become the first female Stanley Cup rioter to be sentenced.
UBC student Camille Cacnio, 23, was spared jail time after the sentencing judge felt she had suffered enough at the hands of social media.
Cacnio, who has also lost three jobs due to her unwanted fame, was given a suspended sentence of two years probation with a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the first year and 150 hours of community work service.
She was caught laughing on camera as she stole two pairs of men's dress pants and the pictures quickly circulated on the Internet.
Cacnio issued a 3,500-word apology on the Internet, but placed much of the blame for her actions on mob mentality, and then tried to claim kudos for stopping fellow rioters breaking a few trees.
Appearing in Vancouver Provincial Court on Friday, Cacnio, her once-dark hair dyed reddish-brown and wearing a black skirt and grey blazer, looked solemn after sentencing and left the courtroom with her parents without comment.
She is the first adult woman among the 145 people charged with rioting and other charges stemming from the five hours of mayhem that followed the Vancouver Canucks' loss in the Stanley Cup final.
"There is no need to teach Ms. Cacnio a severe lesson" by sentencing her to jail, said Judge Joseph Galati in his judgment, because she "suffered unpleasant consequences" after video of her was posted online.
Court heard that Cacnio, after drinking at a friend's downtown home, walked with friends to where the riot had been going on for about an hour and watched a vehicle burn, "laughing and apparently enjoying herself."
She then stole the pants from Black and Lee and told police she thought it was "just funny at the time."
Crown prosecutor Daniel Porte had asked for a jail sentence of 15 to 30 days, to be served on weekends, even though her involvement was at the "lowest end of the spectrum of persons charged."
But because the looting happened during the riot, looting contributed to the "enormity of the riot," and the recurrence of riots in Canada, Porte argued a "short, sharp" jail sentence would be appropriate to properly denounce the crime and deter others.
Cacnio's lawyer, Jason Tarnow, had recommended a conditional discharge, which would have spared her a record, arguing the notoriety she suffered would deter others.
Tarnow noted she had lost three jobs because of the infamy of the arrest and charges and had to temporarily leave university one course short of her degree because of the harassment of some students.
Galati agreed that jail time wasn't necessary, calling the stigma Cacnio suffered because of "significant" media attention and online comments enough of a general deterrent to others.
And he noted a conviction for an indictable offence would affect her life for several years.
Galati acknowledged the defence argument that others would be deterred by the publicity Cacnio suffered and "the realization how easy it is, in this day and age, to be caught, humiliated and prosecuted."
He said Cacnio has been "unjustly persecuted by the would-be pundits of the social media."
With a file from the Vancouver Sun
