Local woman finally sentenced for robbery, unlawful confinement
By ALEX McCUAIG Special to the News on April 24, 2021.
A city woman who was one of three people charged with tying up a woman and beating her over the course of a night was sentenced Friday at Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench to two-and-a-half years in a federal penitentiary. Amanda Louise Kaye, 39, along with mother and son co-accused Theresa and Matthew Babitzke, were charged in connection with the Oct. 24, 2018 incident, which involved robbing the victim and forcing the woman to be tied to a chair overnight. The victim had gone to the elder Babitzke’s residence on 13th Avenue SW to purchase drugs when she was confronted by both the homeowner and Kaye about allegations she stole a watch and owed money to several individuals, the court heard in an agreed statement of facts. The victim was then forced to undress and given other clothing, tied to the chair, hit with a metal pipe and threatened to be sexually assaulted with it. The victim was also threatened to be set on fire. The victim was able to free herself during the morning of Oct. 25, 2018 and managed to call 911, but hung up before speaking to the operator. The 911 operator called back the number with the younger Babitzke answering and stating a child had mistakenly called the number. City police were dispatched to the scene to check on the situation and uncovered the crime. During sentencing arguments, Kaye’s progress in dealing with her drug addiction, her troubled upbringing as an Indigenous woman, positive pre-sentence report, guilty plea and legitimate remorse were all accepted as mitigating factors in her sentence. Defence lawyer Scott Hadford highlighted the victim impact statement asked for those who put her through a night of terror to realize the pain and trauma the incident put her through. “Ms. Kaye is acknowledging what she put this victim through,” said Hadford. In an emotional address to the court, Kaye said through tears, “I do feel bad for what I did … I want to sober up.” Kaye was sentenced to two-and-a-half years each for robbery and unlawful confinement to run concurrently. Given time for pre-trial custody, she will have a little more than two years to serve. Theresa and Matthew Babitzke entered guilty pleas in 2019 with the mother receiving three years for unlawful confinement and drug trafficking charges, and the son handed a three-month sentence. 14-13
