A Surrey transgender woman has been sentenced to one year in jail and three years' probation after being found guilty of committing a sex crime against a 13-year-old boy.
The case was heard in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, with Justice Sharon Matthews presiding.
Matthews convicted Azarik Aamir Ali, 30, in 2024 on one count of invitation to sexual touching of a 13-year-old boy on a five‑count indictment. There is a publication ban on evidence that could identify the victim.
Matthews acquitted Ali on the other four counts, which included allegations of sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching, sexual interference and exposure.
"I acquitted Ms. Ali on those counts because I concluded the Crown had not proved each element of the offences alleged beyond a reasonable doubt," the judge explained.
Ali then filed a constitutional challenge to the one-year mandatory minimum sentence on grounds it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, contrary to Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Crown argued that one year is a fit sentence, to be followed by three years of probation.
@todayinbc A Surrey transgender woman has been sentenced to one year in jail and three years' probation after being found guilty of committing a sex crime against a 13-year-old boy. The case was heard in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster, with Justice Sharon Matthews presiding. Matthews convicted Azarik Aamir Ali, 30, in 2024 on one count of invitation to sexual touching of a 13-year-old boy on a five‑count indictment. There is a publication ban on evidence that could identify the victim. #SurreyBC#BCCourts#NewWestminster#BCLegal#SurreyCrime#BCJustice#SexOffenderRegistry#BCNews#TransLegalRights#VictimImpact#court #lowermainland #trans #news ♬ original sound - Today In BC
"The real question is whether the Court will structure the sentence to be served as a conditional sentence in the community or as a sentence of incarceration," Matthews noted in her reasons for judgment posted on May 15. "I am of the view that the public safety requirement for a conditional sentence cannot be met. Ms. Ali does not acknowledge her sexual offending. While she is willing to engage in treatment, she does not think she needs it. She is entitled to maintain her innocence, and that is not an aggravating factor, but it does affect how the Court views her risk of reoffending."
The court heard Ali was 24 at the time of the offence. Matthews said Ali came into a bedroom where the victim was playing videogames and whispered to the boy "about going to another room to engage in sexual acts. I found that she asked him to have oral sex and anal sex with her."
Ali denied this.
"Ms. Ali has not expressed remorse, because she maintains her innocence," the judge decided.
"A sentencing judge must focus on the potential and actual emotional and psychological harm, as well as the physical harm of the offence, in both the short and long term," Matthews noted.
The court heard Ali, who had no prior criminal record, was interviewed by a psychologist with the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission.
"Ms. Ali told Dr. Greig that her parents have never been comfortable with her sexual preferences or gender transition," Matthews said. "She told Dr. Greig that she had told her parents and her sister that she had been acquitted on four counts of the charges on the indictment, but not that she had been convicted on one."
Matthews said Ali at the beginning of the trial "advised the court that she prefers female pronouns. Based on the evidence, I conclude that at the time of the November 2019 incident on which she was convicted, people around her regarded her as male and referred to her using male pronouns.
"She told Dr. Greig that she came to terms with her transgender status at around age 22," Matthews noted.
"Together with Dr. Greig's opinion, I conclude that there is a material risk of her reoffending," the judge decided.
In his victim impact statement, Matthews said, the boy told the court that "all of the happiness and innocence he knew disappeared and his childhood was taken from him. He stated that Ms. Ali was someone he trusted. He stated that he had difficulty trusting people in his life. He stated that he suffered in silence.
"He stated that he did not want to talk about it because he thought that avoiding it was the best option he had. He stated that going through the court proceedings was the hardest thing he has done and it felt like he was reliving what had happened," the judge continued.
"He described going to the washroom to cry and console himself during the court proceedings. He stated that he anticipates spending the rest of his life learning to live with the pain that Ms. Ali caused to him and his family. He expressed that he is going to try to do what he can to reclaim his life and that determination is something that Ms. Ali cannot take away from him."
Matthews observed that the evidence "demonstrates uncertainty about how Ms. Ali's transgendered status will be addressed if she is incarcerated. While I understand her wishes will be taken into account, they will not be determinative as to whether she is incarcerated in an institution for women or for men. If she is incarcerated in a women's institution, the sexual offender programming will not be available."
However, she concluded, she is "of the view" a conditional sentence would not meet the Criminal Code's objectives of sentencing. "I accept that a prison sentence will likely be harder on her than if she was not transgendered," Matthews conceded.
"I conclude that Ms. Ali has not satisfied her burden to persuade me that the hardship to her should outweigh the public interest in the prevention and investigation of sexual offences," the judge concluded.
She also ordered that Ali be be registered under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act for 20 years.
"In no circumstances may you reside in the same residence of any person under the age of 16," during the term of probation, Matthews told Ali.
