By Dori Modney (@Dori_Modney on Twitter) with files from Patrick Burles

Convicted sex offender to be sentenced for repeat crime

Jul 24, 2017 | 12:24 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A sentencing date has been set for early September for a convicted sex offender, who admitted to charges of break and enter and sexual assault in January of 2016.

The matter was adjourned to give the judge time to consider the recommendations put forward by the Crown and defence. Crown prosecutor, Michael Fox, explained that they are asking for a term of 12-14 years in prison for 59-year old Darral Gerard Courtoreille, while the defence suggested just five years.

After entering a guilty plea on Jan. 4, a pre-sentence report along with a risk, psychological and psychiatric assessment were ordered for Courtoreille.

When the matter returned to court in April, the Crown explained that due to a number of other cases moving through the same process, Courtoreille’s assessments had yet to begin.

The case returned to court to July 6, but once again it had to be adjourned. Defence lawyer, Greg White, explained that he had only received the psychological assessment that day, and didn’t have time to review it yet.

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White added that in a case this serious – and one in which the Crown is looking for a “two-digit sentence” – he would need additional time to go over the information. The Crown agreed, and sentencing was adjourned again.

On Monday, July 24, a sentencing date was set for September 8th.

In a media release from the Lethbridge Police Service on November 7, 2016, they reported that between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning of Nov. 7, 2016, a man gained entry to a north side home through a basement door and sexually assaulted a 15-year old girl in her bedroom. The suspect took steps to prevent her from screaming and alerting other members of her family.

Police arrived on scene at 5:14 a.m., cordoned off the area and found a man matching the suspect’s description, and Courtoreille was taken into custody and charged.

In regard to his criminal history, Courtoreille was released from prison in January of 2004, after serving two years for sexual interference involving a minor. Then in May 2004, he pleaded guilty to another case of sexual interference of a minor. In December that same year, he was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

In December 2005, Courtoreille was released, with Lethbridge police warning that he would be living in the city, and was designated a high-risk offender after he refused to complete a rehabilitation program for sex offenders.