A woman who told police her ex-boyfriend had threatened her at gunpoint admitted in court Monday that the entire incident was fictional.
Kayla Parsons pleaded guilty to a single count of public mischief and was given three months of house arrest for the crime.
Parsons called 911 on Nov. 5, 2009 complaining that her ex-boyfriend, with whom she was then engaged in a custody dispute, had stopped her outside a local restaurant and pointed a gun at her and their two-year-old son.
She told police he had threatened to kill her and told her she had to recant a statement she had made to Edmonton police earlier that year.
Acting on that information, police launched a surveillance operation to find the ex-boyfriend, eventually using the man’s cellphone to track him down and arresting him at gunpoint in a high-risk takedown.
He was held overnight on the charges and RCMP in St. Albert went with Parsons to her home so she could pick up a few items before staying at a motel for a few days.
Parsons later called a friend and asked him to report having been a witness to the incident and verify her story. She offered to pay the friend and buy him dinner if he went along with the plan.
He did not. Instead, he called Edmonton police and reported the incident.
Crown prosecutor Scott Pittman said falsely reporting a crime is serious but this one is especially so because of the seriousness of the accusation.
“These facts and circumstances are severe,” he said.
Pittman said he initially planned to seek jail time for Parsons, but was persuaded to suggest house arrest because she has two young children, including one who is just four months old.
Defence lawyer Tim McRory joined Pittman in suggesting a house arrest term. He told the court that Parsons understood she could have gone to jail.
“She understands now how serious this was,” he said.
Parsons spoke briefly in her own defence and said she was deeply sorry for her actions.
During the first two months of house arrest, Parson will be confined to her home at all hours, but in the final month of the sentence she will be confined only to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
