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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A 32-year-old Yellowknife man has been sent to jail for seven months after a last-minute guilty plea to charges of sexual assault and failure to appear in court.

Richard Hikhaitok was scheduled for trial last Thursday for an incident that occurred Aug. 17, 2007.

The facts of the incident were read in court by Crown prosecutor Maryse Nassar.

She said Hikhaitok had approached a woman while at her place of employment and asked her if she wanted to "go for a quickie" to which the woman replied "No."

Hikhaitok then followed the woman into a bathroom where he stuck his hands up the woman's shirt and down her pants.

The woman was able to escape and called RCMP. Police arrested Hikhaitok at the scene.

A trial for the charge had been scheduled for April 28 but Hikhaitok failed to show up, for which he was charged with failure to appear.

Defence lawyer Jay Bran said the circumstances of the sexual assault were not as severe as most cases of that nature before the NWT courts.

Bran suggested Hikhaitok be required to take part in rehabilitation programs that could teach proper sexual conduct.

Judge Michel Bourassa replied, "Are there programs to understand you can't just walk up to a woman and shove your hands up her clothing?"

Bourassa stressed the seriousness of failing to appear for trial and emphasized the pressure it puts on witnesses.

He also described the sexual assault as having "a significant degree of violation."

"This isn't a lewd proposition. It's an assault," said Bourassa.

Hikhaitok was sentenced to six months in jail for the sexual assault and an additional month for failing to appear in court.

Bourassa said Hikhaitok would be given some credit for spending close to two months in jail awaiting trial, but not double or triple credit, as is often the practice.

Bourassa said inmates spending time in remand used to have a much harder time in comparison to convicted prisoners.

"Those days are long past," he said.