The Victoria woman who pleaded guilty to abducting her 20-month-old daughter nearly two decades ago will not go to jail.

Patricia O’Byrne disappeared with her baby daughter in May 1993 in violation of a court order. For more than 18 years, the child’s father, Joe Chisholm, searched relentlessly for his daughter.

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Today, Justice Mara Greene gave O’Byrne, 55, a conditional sentence of two years less a day minus the 48 days O’Byrne served in pre-trial custody. For the first 12 months of her sentence, O’Byrne will be under house arrest at her home in Victoria. For the next eight months, O’Byrne will have a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. That will be followed by two years of probation.

“She’s extremely stoic, but it’s been an overwhelming process,” her lawyer Julianna Greenspan said in a phone interview from Toronto. “Psychologically and personally, she was prepared to surrender into custody immediately. The hope was that she’d be walking out of the courthouse and flying home. And that’s happening.”

O’Byrne’s daughter, whose identity is protected by a court order, supported her at the sentencing hearing in February but was not present in court today. Chisholm filed a victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing, asking the court to show mercy and not send O’Byrne to jail.

The case is extremely unusual, said Greenspan.

“One of the most important things in this case is the desire by father, child and mother to move forward in a productive future. You usually see a parent alienating a child and that didn’t happen in this case. The whole focus in this case is for a hopeful future and I think the judge saw that and recognized that. All that matters at the end of the day is that there is an opportunity for healing for everybody.”

O’Byrne evaded capture for 18 years by obtaining government identification in a false name.

In October 2011, police received an anonymous tip from the Missing Children’s Society of Canada that O’Byrne was living in Victoria.

A four-page agreed statement of fact read into the court record at O’Byrne’s sentencing hearing in February states O’Byrne genuinely believed she was doing what was necessary to protect the child from harm.

The statement says O’Byrne was sexually abused by male babysitters when she was a child and witnessed the physical abuse of her mother.

O’Byrne met Chisholm in 1986 at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. They became involved in a common-law relationship in February 1989 and had a daughter in September 1991.

They separated in June 1992, but could not agree on a custody order. In August 1992, O’Byrne applied for sole custody of the baby. She was granted interim custody in October 1992, with Chisholm granted interim access on specific dates.

Their settlement agreement included a condition that O’Byrne would not move more than 50 kilometres from Toronto. It also acknowledged she would be vacationing from May 17 to May 30, 1993, in South Carolina with her daughter and an unknown friend.

However, on May 28, O’Byrne's lawyer received an unsigned letter from O’Byrne saying she and the child were gone and Chisholm would not find them.

On May 29, Chisholm went to the police to report his daughter and O’Byrne were missing.

The child was registered with Child Find in Canada and the U.S. and a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for O’Byrne on June 15, 1993.

For years, Chisholm worked tirelessly to locate his daughter, spending significant financial resources chasing leads that proved fruitless, says the statement.

Finally, on Oct. 4, 2011, police received an anonymous tip from the Missing Children Society of Canada that O’Byrne was living in Victoria.

Efforts were taken to collect DNA samples to confirm that the woman living in Victoria was O’Byrne. Police received information that a tissue sample had been taken from O’Byrne in 1988 during a medical procedure. They obtained a search warrant to seize the sample, which was sent for analysis to the Centre of Forensic Sciences.

Toronto police then asked Victoria police to obtain a DNA sample from the Victoria woman they believed was O’Byrne. The sample was a match.

O’Byrne was arrested and charged with abduction in contravention of a court order.

In planning the abduction, O’Byrne obtained government identification with a false name and under false pretenses. She avoided detection by using the two new identities she created for herself and her daughter. She brought her daughter across international boundaries and managed to remain in hiding, despite the fact there was a warrant for her arrest.

As an adult, O’Byrne sought counselling for the abuse she witnessed and suffered. During her relationship with Chisholm, she suffered from depression and sought the care of a psychiatrist.

O’Byrne’s history of abuse made her distrustful and overprotective. She believed Chisholm did not adequately understand the need to protect his children from outside harm. She became increasingly frantic and frightened for her daughter while she was in her father’s care.

She abducted her daughter because she believed she was the only one who could keep her safe. She now recognizes that she deprived a father and daughter of an 18-year relationship.

ldickson@timescolonist.com