The Crown wants more jail time for a Saskatchewan father who went into hiding with his seven-year-old daughter to keep her from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.Michael Gordon Jackson was convicted in April of abducting his daughter in contravention of a custody order. As reported by the Leader Post, the Crown wants a two-year sentence followed by three years on probation, and 200 hours of community service. The request was submitted Friday by prosecutor Zoey Kim-Zeggelaar at the Court of King’s Bench.Credit for time served on remand would leave Jackson with another 199 days of jail time ahead..Michael Jackson, father of Sarah, speaks from jail.The Carievale, Saskatchewan, resident took his then seven-year-old daughter late in 2021. They were both found in Vernon, B.C. late in February of 2022, where Jackson was arrested.Jackson, who is representing himself, told Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown that he needed more time to prepare, as he’d only just received the written materials filed by the other lawyers for his case. After answering questions from the judge, she granted his request and set a date later this month for him to make his submissions.Kim-Zeggelaar said Jackson committed a serious crime, as his daughter was “ripped from her community, taken from her mother on the basis of an individual belief.” The prosecutor suggested the corresponding sentence should be strong to denounce such conduct and serve as a deterrent against future offenses.“We cannot assert in stronger words the need for that type of sentence to impress on Mr. Jackson, and those who would follow his example, that court orders are to be obeyed, no matter creed, conscience, belief or bias,” the lawyer said.However, Kim-Zeggelaar noted Jackson’s criminal record is limited, carrying only one criminal harassment entry from about 30 years ago. She also accepted that Jackson had no intent to physically harm the girl.The lawyer said Jackson had isolated the child from her mother, and planned to do so indefinitely. She accepted his primary reason was to stop the girl from being vaccinated, but suggested he tried to use the child as leverage in negotiations with police, making demands pertaining to the custody arrangement, and his own fate.Jackson recalled the negotiations from a different angle during an interview with Western Standard in March of 2022."I was in negotiations with the RCMP the whole way ... I only stopped negotiations for a period of a few days because they were … threatening my friends that if they paid my tax bill on my house, that they would go to jail. And they actually told one friend that if they have to make me lose my house that they’re going to do it," he said."When I was arrested, I was sitting in a parking lot, making contact with lawyers to take over the negotiations… That’s how they found me. I stopped being super evasive because I thought we were working this out," he added.Kim-Zeggelaar acknowledged that in other cases, sentencing judges have considered an abducting parent’s belief about the best interest of their child.“Did he subjectively have this belief that harm would come? Yes,” the prosecutor said..Saskatchewan father in hiding to keep daughter from having COVID vax.But Kim-Zeggelaar said she there was no “objective measure” to assess the child would’ve come to harm under her mother’s care, and cautioned that “many people hold many beliefs in many different things.”“Ultimately, when those beliefs conflict with the law, it is the law that must prevail.”At the hearing, Jackson’s ex-wife said the emotional impact of the abduction has profoundly impacted her and she is no longer the same person.“I almost lost my mind,” she said, recalling her experience from when the child was still missing.“The guilt of not being able to protect her, and the constant worry of her safety, have left me with a deep emotional scar.”Even after she was reunited with her daughter, the mother said she’s dealt with fear, anxiety, trust issues and aggravated health problems, in addition to financial burdens.She said she’s had to navigate difficult conversations in the community about what happened and she’s had to explain to her daughter how to do the same, while fearing bullying against the child.Jackson remains on release as he awaits his sentencing.
