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By Bob Mackin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen

Sexual Interference

Guilty pleas for breaching judge’s no-contact orders

Jan 11, 2026 | 4:08 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — A man accused of sexual interference of a person under the age of 16 in Prince George pleaded guilty Dec. 30 to breaching court orders to have no contact with the complainant.

On April 2 around 10:20 p.m., near Stewart Drive and Fifth Avenue, a group home worker noticed a girl enter a vehicle with a man and witnessed an apparent verbal altercation. The man turned out to be Austin Riley Zwiers, 26. He was arrested and spent one day in jail.

On July 11 at 11 p.m., a Prince George RCMP officer noticed a car with a burned out headlight. Zwiers identified himself to the officer after he was pulled over. The officer saw a female in the passenger seat visibly shaking. He arrested Zwiers, who spent another six days in jail.

Provincial Court Judge Judith Doulis agreed to the joint Crown and defence proposal for a time served sentence plus 12 months probation.

Zwiers apologized to the court. His defence lawyer Airi Cipelletti, told Doulis that Zwiers is Indigenous with no criminal conviction history. However, he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

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The online court file shows Zwiers was scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 6 on a charge of sexual interference that allegedly occurred July 1, 2024 in Prince George and a charge of sexual assault that allegedly occurred March 7, 2025 in Prince George.