Content warning: This story contains details of sexual crimes against a minor.
A 41-year-old Burnaby man should be sentenced to nine years in prison for sex crimes he committed against a girl who was just 12 years old when they first met through an online "furry" community five years ago, according to the Crown prosecutor in the case.
Adam Woolacott was in Vancouver provincial court last week for sentencing after pleading guilty to five charges in September.
'I'm still just a kid'
Woolacott had met his victim, identified in court only by her initials because of a publication ban, through a furries-oriented Facebook group in December 2019 when he was 35, according to agreed facts presented in court.
Furries are people who create anthropomorphized animal characters or "fursonas," with whom they identify.
Some furries wear costumes or "fursuits" or paraphernalia such as animal ears or tails, or represent themselves as anthropomorphic animals in online communities.
The girl direct-messaged Woolacott in December 2019 because she liked the furry grey and purple bunny head in his profile photo, according to the facts.
Crown prosecutor Jacinta Lawton said the messages quickly became sexual even though the girl told Woolacott she was 12.
"I'm still just a kid," stated one text conversation read out in court.
"I'm OK with you being a kid. I really do love you," Woolacott responded.
The messages ultimately led to five in-person encounters, three at Burnaby parks, one at the North Burnaby townhouse Woolacott shared with his mother and one at his hotel room during the VancouFur convention in Surrey in March 2022.
'She was looking for love'
Despite Woolacott telling the girl to delete their messages, more than 2,000 were preserved from the last six months of their relationship alone.
"They amount to a campaign by Mr. Woolacott to get sex from this child," Lawton said of the large volume of messages.
Woolacott's in-person encounters with the girl involved sexual touching and penetrative sex.
Messages after the encounters graphically indicate Woolacott's awareness of the girl's age.
"He clearly relished that (she) was a child," Lawton said.
The messages show Woolacott knew the sex had scared and hurt the girl and that she was emotionally and financially vulnerable, according to Lawton.
She said Woolacott exploited those vulnerabilities, telling the girl he loved her, that she was beautiful and offering her money for explicit photos and sex acts, including offering her more money for sex without a condom.
"She was looking for love, and instead she was violated," Lawton said.
In one text, the girl said she felt guilty about not feeling sexual.
"I'm afraid you will leave me," she said.
Lawton said Woolacott's moral blameworthiness was "extremely high," that his actions were planned and deliberate and that he knew what he was doing was illegal.
"Technically, I committed statutory rape," he said in one message after an in-person encounter.
Lawton said Woolacott should be sentenced to between eight and nine years in prison.
In a victim impact statement, the now-17-year-old victim told the court Woolacott "took away her childhood" and sent her down a self-destructive path of toxic relationships and substance abuse.
"I could have been somebody else," she said, crying.
B.C. provincial court Judge Donna Senniw addressed the girl, thanking her for her statement.
"You can still be all you can be," she said.
'A lot of people struggle socially'
Defence lawyer Allen Goldin, however, said a sentence between four and five years would be more appropriate.
He noted Woolacott has no criminal record, pleaded guilty and shown remorse.
Woolacott would also face a "higher risk of victimization" in prison as a child sex offender and as a person who is gender non-conforming and struggles with mental health issues, according to Goldin.
Goldin said Woolacott had a difficult childhood.
Because his father was in the military and the family moved around a lot, he had a hard time making friends and was bullied in school.
He also experienced verbal and physical abuse at home, according to Goldin, and has had suicidal thoughts since age 10.
Woolacott has depression and anxiety and struggles socially, leading to isolation, according to a psychological report.
Goldin argued his struggles contributed to the commission of the his crimes.
"Arguably, a healthy person would have been more resilient to offending," he said.
The report also deemed Woolacottt a low risk to reoffend.
It described his crimes as "opportunistic" since he had not sought out the girl on the internet and was not likely to seek out other victims in the future.
But Lawton disagreed, saying Woolacott had taken "maximum advantage of the opportunity," which could indicate a risk to others who might chance to encounter him online in the future.
Lawton also opposed the idea that Woolacott's mental health and social struggles had led to his offending.
"A lot of people struggle socially," she said.
As for Woolacott's remorse, Lawton said it was "performative" and that he had demonstrated little insight into his crimes or the impact they have had on his victim.
Senniw is scheduled to deliver her sentence in the case in March.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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