A sex assault victim went undercover to bring her abuser to justice.
asserted
victim → go → justice
Now he's out on parole
Parole Board decision comes as victim receives praise for telling her story
A woman who went undercover to get a confession from the man who sexually assaulted her says she's "fed up" and "retraumatized" by a parole board decision to release him.
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she → come → him
The parole board decision comes as Vienna Luke has received support from people across Canada and abroad who have heard her extraordinary story of going undercover as an RCMP agent in the CBC podcast Personally: Agent Layla.
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who → come → podcast
"I feel deflated," said Luke of the decision to release Justin Sewell early.
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Luke → feel → Sewell
"My story being out there is like, 'Wow, look.'
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story → look → ?
The parole board made its decision to release Sewell on Oct. 6, citing his low assessed risk to reoffend and his compliance and participation in therapeutic programs during his time in a halfway house.
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board → make → house
Vienna met him when she was 10 years old.
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she → meet → him
As described in the Personally: Agent Layla podcast and in court documents, Sewell drugged, assaulted and photographed Luke in 2007 when she was 20 years old.
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she → describe → 2007
After wrestling for years with what really happened the night she was drugged into unconsciousness and assaulted, Luke decided in 2019 to report the assault to police after she and her sister, Shawnessy Luke, recorded a phone conversation with Sewell's ex-lover who said he disclosed putting ketamine in Vienna's drink.
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he → wrestle → drink
In court, Sewell has denied it was ketamine, but a provincial court judge found it was either ketamine or Valium.
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it → deny → court
RCMP proposed a plan to put Vienna Luke undercover, giving her the code name Agent Layla.
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RCMP → propose → name
They used emails to entice Sewell to meet her face to face at a hotel lounge at the Vancouver International Airport under the premise that him telling the truth might be a path back to family reconciliation.
uncertain
telling → use → reconciliation
In the recording from the sting, obtained by CBC and included in Episode 3 of the Agent Layla podcast, Vienna Luke pushes Sewell to describe the specific details of his offence.
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Luke → obtain → offence
He admits to drugging and assaulting her, and to watching her through her bedroom window on two separate occasions.
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He → admit → occasions
Eventually, Sewell pleaded guilty to sexual assault and two counts of voyeurism.
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Sewell → plead → voyeurism
After what was described in court as an unusually lengthy sentencing hearing in which Sewell took the stand arguing that a self-diagnosed addiction to pornography was the root cause of his offences, a provincial court judge sentenced Sewell to two years less a day of house arrest in April 2025.
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judge → describe → April
Seven months later, a panel of B.C. Court of Appeal judges overturned that decision and imposed a sentence of 33 months less a day to be served in prison.
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panel → overturn → prison
After serving about six months in a federal institution, Sewell was granted day parole and transferred to a halfway house in April 2026.
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Sewell → serve → April
Since then, according to notifications provided to his victims and viewed by CBC News, Sewell has been granted permission to leave the halfway house and travel to his home in Fort St. John or to "recreate" in Grande Prairie, Alta., for 70 days over a period of less than seven months.
uncertain
Sewell → accord → months
Discrepancies in 2 Parole Board of Canada decisions made 6 months apart
The Parole Board first considered Sewell's applications to be granted full parole in an April 2026 face-to-face hearing.
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Board → make → hearing
This time he was subject to a paper review, a parole decision-making process that assesses documents written about the offender's behaviour and programs they have completed, but does not interview the offender.
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they → make → offender
The two boards came to a few markedly different conclusions.
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boards → come → conclusions
The parole board members in April 2026 found in their decision that Sewell "engaged in considerable rationalizing and minimizing" of his offences.
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Sewell → find → offences
Instead of addressing the "key issues leading to your violence," the board found he focused on "[his] use of pornography and the problems in [his] marriage, as though solving those particular problems was a solution also for the behavioural issues that led to the sexual assault."
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that → address → assault
"The Board believes that a day or full parole release to your home community is not adequate to the task of protecting the community from your risk."
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release → believe → risk
With support of her sister Shawnessy Luke (left), Vienna Luke went undercover in her own case and obtained a confession.
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Luke → go → confession
The sisters continue to work together seeking justice in the case.
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sisters → continue → case
Six months later, despite letters from Vienna and Shawnessy Luke imploring the board to weigh heavily the findings of the April board members who interviewed Sewell and decided against full parole, the October parole board members found Sewell's "compliance, community adjustment, ongoing therapeutic involvement, and low assessed risk" support a reduction in supervision and that release on full parole "will not present an undue risk to society."
That board granted full parole on Oct. 6.
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board → implore → Oct.
Correctional Service Canada confirmed the end of Sewell's sentence is Jan. 1, 2028.
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end → confirm → sentence
For the 14 months that remain, Sewell is required to report all sexual and non-sexual relationships with females, and he is prohibited from accessing pornography.
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he → remain → pornography
'How is [he] allowed the freedoms to go on a recreational hunting trip?'
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he → allow → trip
On the one hand, she's received messages from podcast listeners commending her for sharing her story of confronting her abuser, which led to a conviction and prison time.
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which → receive → conviction
On the other hand, she's found herself still advocating behind the scenes for justice in her case.
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herself → find → case
"I'm a person that chose to report," she said.
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she → choose → ?
"You can understand why people are just like, 'I'm going to move on with my life.'
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I → understand → life
In the most recent parole board decision, board members cited a letter from the Luke sisters questioning the 70 days Sewell was allowed to leave the halfway house, including his release "for the purposes of a hunting trip."
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Sewell → cite → trip
Justin Sewell in a photo where he is hunting.
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he → hunt → photo
This image is from before he faced the courts for his assault on Vienna Luke.
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he → face → Luke
Sewell is now under a 10-year prohibition on possessing firearms.
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Sewell → possess → firearms
The sisters say that in September they began to suspect that some of Sewell's trips might be to participate in hunting, an activity he described as an important hobby in court.
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he → say → court
…and 26 more, not listed.
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