$1.8M in arsons nets 13-month sentence

Winnipeg Free Press

Sat Jun 25 2005

By Kevin Rollason

A 20-year-old man with fetal alcohol syndrome and the mental age of a
13-year-old was handed a 13-month jail sentence yesterday for setting
fires that caused $1.8 million in damages last year.

Provincial court Judge Sid Lerner rejected a request by Christopher Leo
Fillion's defence counsel to allow him to serve the sentence in the
community.

Lerner said Fillion is at high risk of reoffending unless he's monitored
24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Unfortunately, no such program is available for him at this time," the
judge said.

Lerner said his sentence is actually the equivalent of three years in
prison because he took into account the fact that Fillion has already
been sitting in jail for more than 11 months since turning himself in.
Eleven months in pre-sentence custody is treated by the courts as the
equivalent of a 22-month prison term.

The judge also ordered Fillion to have three years of supervised
probation after his release. Fillion was also ordered to meet with a
probation officer within six hours of his release.
"He should be seen immediately," Lerner said.

The judge said Fillion will have an absolute curfew 24 hours a day after
his release, except for medical appointments or anything allowed by his

Last week, Fillion pleaded guilty to setting nearly two dozen fires
during a five-day period last July, including one that destroyed three
homes in River Heights.

Another fire, which spread to a fire escape outside a Wolseley-area
apartment building, forced residents to flee before the blaze was put out.

Court was told that Fillion has been in the care of Child and Family
Services since he was 9.

At the time of the fires, Fillion was supervised in a residential
program seven days a week, but because the supervision didn't go
overnight he would leave to set the blazes when the supervising worker left.
Crown attorney Kerry Pearlman had asked the judge for a sentence of four
to five years.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca