By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

21-year-old sentenced as youth in aggravated sexual assault case

Dec 20, 2018 | 12:08 PM

LETHBRIDGE – A 21-year-old man who was convicted of sexually assaulting and cutting a woman’s throat in 2015, has been sentenced.

Because he was 17-years-old at the time he committed the offence and several others, he can not be named.

Crown Prosecutor Lisa Weich had originally been seeking an adult sentence, however in a submission to Judge Greg Maxwell Thursday, Dec. 20, she instead suggested an IRCS (Intensive Rehabilitative Custodial Supervision) order for a period of three years, along with two years of probation, to be served concurrently.

The IRCS program is reserved for youths suffering from a mental illness or disorder, psychological disorder or an emotional disturbance and who have been convicted of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, or aggravated sexual assault. It involves a team of experts working with the individual to examine numerous of areas of their life, and then developing a treatment plan that will best prepare them to rejoin society.

The man will spend the first year of the sentence in a provincial adult correctional institution, like the Calgary Correctional Centre. 30 days prior to the end of the first year, a hearing will be held to determine if he has made satisfactory progress such that he may live in an approved facility, or whether he should remain in custody.

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The man will also have to submit a DNA sample and will be prohibited from owning or possessing weapons for two years.

Defense Lawyer Scott Hadford agreed with the submission.

Hadford told the court his client had a clear understanding of the road ahead of him, and that he understood what he was agreeing to.

“This is a chance for him to overcome a great deal of trauma he experienced throughout his early life,” said Hadford.

Judge Maxwell also agreed, saying he hoped the brevity of the hearing wasn’t perceived as making short work of an extremely serious set of circumstances, given the years it took to get to that point, and that the man had already spent 43 months in pre-trial custody.

“I believe that the potential for this form of sentence may serve to save this young man’s life. And if he avails himself of the supports necessary, significantly improves the likelihood that he will not harm others in the future, which clearly has to be the principle focus of sentencing when we’re dealing with matters of this nature.”

Two victim impact statements were also read out in court; one from the victim’s sister and one from the victim’s aunt.

The first letter indicated how the victim loved to travel, especially to Mexico, and that she loved teasing people. It also stated that evidence heard in court was hurtful and heartbreaking to her family. It ended with the sister hoping that the victim could finally rest in peace.

While the victim’s aunt was in the courtroom, she could not read out the letter. Instead, Judge Maxwell did so. The letter stated that seeing her niece -who was like a daughter to her- in the hospital was traumatic; that the victim was unrecognizable, terrified and helpless. It went on to state that the emotional and physical scars inflicted on the victim led her to self-medicate which ultimately took her life.

The judge also asked the 21-year-old man whether he wished to speak. The man told the court he has been trying to change himself physically, mentally and emotionally. He also said that while he’d been dealt a “bad hand growing up,” the crimes were no one’s fault but his own, he had no excuse for what he did, and that he was sorry.

Conviction

Judge Maxwell found the man guilty of aggravated sexual assault, break and enter to commit sexual assault, threats to cause death, and unlawful confinement at the conclusion of the trial in March. He also found him not guilty of attempted murder.

Maxwell determined that sometime between 4 and 5 a.m. on May 3, 2015, the man entered a south side apartment in Lethbridge that was owned by the victim’s stepfather. He found her sleeping on the couch and proceeded to sexually assault her. When the woman’s step-father woke up and confronted him, the youth dragged her outside at knife point, continued the sexual assault, then cut her throat and fled the scene.

While she survived the 14 cm cut to her throat, both the woman and her step-father died of unrelated causes prior to the trial.

They were, however, able to provide statements to the Lethbridge Police Service in the hours after the attack, and the victim’s step-father identified the youth by name – it was a different first name but same last one – also providing a description of the man and his address. A search of the youth’s nearby home turned up a shirt that had the victim’s DNA on it.

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