85-year-old inmate sentenced for sex crimes against friend’s granddaughter dies in B.C. prison

The bars of a prison cell are seen in this image. (Credit: Shutterstock)

Warning: This story contains details some readers may find disturbing.

An 85-year-old inmate who was serving a sentence that began last year has died in custody in B.C.

Garcia Ribeiro Dias died of “apparent natural causes” on Saturday, the Correctional Service of Canada said in a news release Wednesday.

He had been serving a two-year sentence at the Pacific Institution Regional Treatment Centre in Abbotsford since March 11, 2024.

While the CSC release does not elaborate on the crimes that led to the inmate’s sentence, a sentencing decision published on the Canadian Legal Information Institute website matches the offender’s name, age and the date the sentence began.

According to the decision, Justice Heather MacNaughton found Dias guilty of one count of sexual interference and not guilty of another count of the same offence. She also found him not guilty of sexual assault.

All of the charges involved the same victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban and is identified in the decision only as “I.L.” She was eight years old at the time of the offence that led to Dias' sentence.

MacNaughton’s decision indicates I.L. is the granddaughter of Y.L., who was a friend of Dias' late wife. After his wife’s death, Y.L. “invited Mr. Dias into her and her grandchildren’s lives,” the decision reads.

Dias accompanied Y.L. and I.L. on a trip to Peru in December 2018 and January 2019. It was during this trip that he committed sexual interference by touching the child during times when he was left alone with her.

The exact number of times Dias touched I.L. was impossible to determine, according to the judge, who concluded it happened more than once and possibly as many as 10 times over a period of roughly three weeks.

“I found that Mr. Dias touched I.L., moving his hands up her legs, to between her legs, and up to her chest,” the decision reads. “I found that the touching was subjectively for a sexual purpose and that Mr. Dias had violated I.L.’s sexual integrity.”

Mitigating and aggravating factors

Dias was 78 when he committed the offence and 83 during his trial. Several paragraphs of MacNaughton’s decision are dedicated to discussion of his mental and physical health.

The judge described his “advanced age and health challenges” as the most significant mitigating factor in the case.

Other mitigating factors included Dias' lack of a criminal record and evidence of “some community support.”

The weight given to these factors was reduced, however, by the offender’s history of breaching the conditions placed on him when he was released and awaiting trial.

MacNaughton also made note of the absence of a potential mitigating factor: remorse.

“Mr. Dias does not appear to accept the gravity of his actions,” the judge’s decision reads.

“Although he did not testify at trial, at the hearing into the breach of his bail conditions, he said that Y.L. had put I.L. up to reporting sexual abuse because Y.L. owed him money. He said this, despite the fact that he can be heard in his recorded conversation with Y.L. acknowledging that he knew what he had done to I.L. was wrong. He can also be heard to say that he touched I.L. because he thought she liked it and it gave her pleasure. He does not acknowledge the profound breach of trust involved in his actions.”

While Dias was not in a formal position of trust or authority – such as that of a teacher – he was a trusted family friend, and his conduct toward I.L. betrayed that trust, according to the decision.

The age gap between Dias and his victim was also an aggravating factor in the case, “because the power imbalance between children and adults is more pronounced for young children,” the decision reads.

Similarly, MacNaughton’s decision describes the number of incidents of inappropriate touching as increasing Dias' “moral culpability” for the crime.

The sentence

Crown prosecutors asked MacNaughton to impose a three-year prison sentence, while Dias' defence asked for an eight-month conditional sentence – to be served in the community, rather than behind bars – due to the offender’s age and health concerns.

The judge settled on two years in prison, reasoning that a conditional sentence would “not properly reflect the moral blameworthiness of Mr. Dias' conduct.”

“Sexual abuse of a child is highly morally blameworthy,” the decision reads. “Mr. Dias knew or ought to have known that he was profoundly harming I.L. when he treated her as an object for his sexual gratification. His suggestion that he did so for I.L.’s pleasure or because she liked it is offensive. She was a vulnerable eight-year-old child spending time on vacation with a trusted adult male she thought of as her grandfather.”

Regarding concerns about Dias' health, MacNaughton noted that the CSC had identified its Regional Treatment Centre as an appropriate facility capable of handling an inmate with Dias' conditions.

In its statement on Dias' death, the CSC said his next of kin had been notified.

“As in all cases involving the death of an inmate, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) will review the circumstances,” the agency said.

“CSC policy requires that the police and the coroner be notified.”