One year jail sentence for treasurer who stole $29,000 from youth football club
Not the first time Joshua Cahoon stole money from community organization; he previously pilfered from wildlife society in Kamloops
(This was one of those cases from 2021 over to 2022 that wasn't a particularly heinous crime or large sum of money, but was despicable because of the literal breach of trust and the damage it caused the Chilliwack Giants club for years to come. Cahoon is such a predatory weasel that he did this in other communities as well. I saw Cahoon with his family at the Remembrance Day ceremony downtown Chilliwack on Nov. 11, 2024. At least one of his kids wore a Giants hoodie. Incidentally, and unrelated to this, his mother-in-law [or his mother] who goes by Tammy Rip Mitchell Mowat, is one of the loudest anti-LGBTQ bigots posting all kinds of nonsense on local Facebook groups. Click on her profile, that's Cahoon in her cover photo - PJH, December. 2024)
The man convicted of stealing $29,000 from the Chilliwack Giants had a history of convictions for theft before he was hired by the organization and put in the position of treasurer.
Charles Joshua Cahoon was convicted of fraud over $5,000 from the Giants in 2018 after writing himself cheques of just under $2,000 each totalling $29,000. He was initially charged with theft over $5,000 but that was bumped up to the more serious charge of fraud over $5,000 when investigators uncovered the fact that he tried to conceal the crime, which delayed its discovery.
A decade before this, Cahoon was convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from the Kamloops Wildlife Park Society and Valleyview Lands Limited Partnership, a company behind a housing development in Kamloops. That means before Cahoon was put in the position of treasurer for the Chilliwack Giants, he had a prior conviction for fraud for which he was sentenced to 12 months jail.
Before his sentencing for the Chilliwack fraud, Cahoon stood in court and gave the standard apology designed to offer up contrition to try to get a lesser sentence.
“Your honour I stand before you ready to accept the consequences for my poor choices, which have affected so many families within this community,” the 42-year-old told Judge Richard Browning.
“I am truly sorry for those choices.”
Cahoon claimed that what made this fraud different from his prior convictions seeing for himself the pain his actions caused. Since he was charged, he went to therapy and rebuilt trust with his family and obtained the full support of his new employer.
He was ordered to pay the money back, which he did, but the return of the money did not nearly make up for the damage the crime caused, according to those with the Giants. The club missed out on $50,000 in B.C. Gaming Grants they were not approved for in 2018 and 2019 while the matter was under investigation. The aftermath of the thefts was described as leaving the organization in a state of “toxicity.”
A psychiatric report on Cahoon indicated “his pride” may have contributed to the offence.
“He failed to inform others about financial difficulties and sought to solve the issue on his own,” the judge said, noting earlier that Cahoon had amassed debts of $450,000.
Repaying the money was not sufficient to allow for a conditional sentence, according to case law, specifically the Court of Appeal case of Regina v. Merkel.
There were several conditions added to his probation order, including one that Cahoon not possess any identification documents, including credit cards, debit cards, cheques, birth certificates and more.
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