Fort Simpson (Feb 24/03) - A 13-year-old Fort Simpson girl is afraid to sleep in her own bed at night after she was sexually assaulted by a 17-year-old male last year.

The accused, also from Fort Simpson, was in a Yellowknife court Feb. 20 where he was sentenced to six months in custody and two years probation for a string of sexual assaults.

Territorial Court Judge Michel Bourassa said the sentence needed to ensure that the public was protected.

"I'm concerned by the dogged persistence of the accused," he said. "He was arrested at least once, released and he continued, and the only thing that arrested his behaviour was himself being arrested."

Bourassa cited a victim impact statement from a 13-year-old girl who said she didn't feel safe going to sleep in her own home.

"We hear of women who are afraid to walk down the street after dark. Here is a young woman afraid to go to sleep in her own bed," said Bourassa.

Court was told that five teenaged girls awoke in their Fort Simpson homes with the accused either on top of them, pawing them or pulling their covers off in incidents that occurred between February and July 23, 2002.

The 17-year-old faced 15 charges that included seven counts of being unlawfully in a dwelling house, six charges of sexual assault, one charge of mischief and one charge of break and enter.

The youth has been in custody since his arrest last July.

In each case the teen, who cannot be identified under the Young Offenders Act, was said to have entered through an open door or window and left when the victim awoke.

The youth was also reported to be intoxicated in each incident and often returned to the same house the same night after being chased away.

In support of his client, defence lawyer Robert Davidson said the teen is the adopted son in a supportive middle class family.

He stressed that he was remorseful, that he acknowledged that he had a serious problem and he was seeking help.

Davidson also noted that the accused had been ostracized by the community.