House arrest, huge bill for $150,000 arson in Point Edward

A Point Edward woman started serving two years of home confinement Tuesday and was handed a hefty bill for intentionally starting a $150,000 fire in a Lambton County-run apartment complex that displaced nine families.

Anne Epstein, 66, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a reduced charge of arson linked to the May 8, 2021 blaze at Huronview Apartments, a cluster of 10, one-bedroom units on Fort Street that was fully occupied at the time. Epstein, who had been drinking, used an accelerant to intentionally and recklessly start a fire in the corner of her living room around 2 pm that Saturday.

Then she left. Point Edward firefighters found a fully engulfed fire coming from her unit. They were able to contain and extinguish the blaze, but the destruction was done, with damage estimated at about $150,000.

A judge ordered Epstein to pay a restitution bill of about $145,000 within the next 15 years. That figure, based on insurance claims, plus one year of house arrest, a second year with a nightly curfew – both with GPS tracking – and another 18 months of probation was the sentence imposed by Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski.

“This is a jail sentence that you’re serving, although it’s one that you’re being permitted to serve in the community,” she said told Epstein.

The key parts of the penalty were suggested last month by lawyers on both sides and on Tuesday Leszczynski called it fit and appropriate as she didn’t consider Epstein to be a danger to the community. The judge noted the incident was linked to Epstein’s mental-health struggles at the time and was not motivated by greed, financial gain, or an attempt to hurt others.

But it did show blatant disregard for the safety of others, she said.

Epstein was initially charged with arson: disregard for human life following an investigation by provincial police and the Ontario Fire Marshal, but she pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of arson: damage to property.

Since the incident Epstein has seen a psychiatrist, has started taking her medication again, and is involved in community groups. Defense lawyer Joseph Stoesser said his client is a totally different person compared to the one that started the fire.

The court also heard residents of Huronview Apartments, one of 16 apartment buildings managed by Lambton County’s housing services department, still live in fear over what happened that day more than two years ago. So Leszczynski banned Epstein, who now lives elsewhere, from going back there or contacting any of the residents.

She’s also barred from having devices that could start fires or cause explosions and from having or drinking alcohol.

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@ObserverTerry