Sask. Father Who Withheld Daughter to Avoid COVID Shot Sentenced to 1-Year Jail

A health-care worker prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in Toronto on Jan. 7, 2021. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

A Saskatchewan father who kept his daughter from her mother to prevent the girl from getting a COVID-19 vaccination was sentenced to one year in jail but given credit for time served.

Michael Gordon Jackson was on trial for violating a custody court order he had with his ex-wife, his daughter’s mother. Jackson was charged after he kept his then-7-year-old daughter from the mother for nearly three months, following a visitation in November 2021. The girl had lived primarily with her mother.

Jackson was found guilty in April, and on Dec. 6 Court of King’s Bench Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown handed down a 12-month sentence followed by two years probation. Jackson was given credit for 531 days he has already spent in jail and will not serve any more time, according to a Global News report.

“He will be free to go today subject to the terms of the probation,” MacMillan-Brown said.

Crown prosecutors had wanted Jackson to get two years of jail time, three years of probation, and 200 hours of community service, telling the court they wanted to send a message with the sentencing.

MacMillan-Brown rejected the additional time, saying, “Without minimizing the injury Mr. Jackson inflicted ... I cannot accept the Crown’s position a two-year custodial sentence is appropriate in this case.”

Jackson represented himself and argued he should not be sentenced for his actions.

Jackson’s probation terms require him to have no contact with his daughter or ex-wife and to serve 100 hours of community service.

Court records showed that Jackson kept the girl over concerns her mother would allow her to take the COVID-19 vaccine, which Jackson was concerned would harm the girl. He had tried to speak to his ex-wife about his concerns and felt she was not listening to him, according to court documents.

In a previous custody dispute over the girl, the mother obtained an enforcement clause that allowed police to retrieve the girl if Jackson did not return her following visitations. It was still in place when another court order was issued on Nov. 26, 2021, directing that the girl be returned to her mother.

Jackson appealed that decision, but on Jan. 5, 2022, the mother was granted sole custody and decision-making authority on an interim basis.

Police found Jackson and the girl in Vernon, B.C., in February 2022. Jackson was sentenced to 60 days in jail for contempt of court and remained in custody until Feb. 13, 2023.