A woman who abducted her daughter and hid under an assumed name for 18 years will not serve prison time for the crime.
Under the terms of the sentence handed down in an Ontario provincial court Tuesday, Patricia O’Byrne will not serve any more time in prison. Instead she will serve two years less a day of house arrest, not including a credit of 48 days for pre-trial custody, followed by a further two years of probation.
O’Byrne fled Toronto with her then 20-month-old daughter in May 1993. The child, now an adult, cannot be identified by court order.
At the time O’Byrne fled, she was separated from the child’s father Joe Chisholm.
After the two disappeared, Chisholm spent years trying to locate his daughter.
Following an anonymous tip sent to the Missing Children Society of Canada, O’Byrne was eventually located living under an assumed name in Victoria, B.C. She was arrested on Dec. 1, 2011.
The officer who tracked O’Byrne down was at the sentencing Tuesday.
“I can’t comment if I’m happy with the sentence or not, but it’s what the victims would have wanted in this case,” Const. Alan Fujino said, explaining that he understood the judge’s decision.
“There’s so many other factors in giving a judgement and she covered them all,” he said.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Austin Delaney
