SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife man was sentenced to two years less a day in jail on Friday in Supreme Court for sexually assaulting a woman while she was unconscious after an afternoon of drinking in August of 2007.

"It boggles the mind how prevalent it is," said Justice Louise Charbonneau at Warren Darrell Ransom's sentencing, referring to the "common occurrence" of men sexually assaulting intoxicated, passed-out females in a state of vulnerability. "Unfortunately, this type of scenario is not unique at all."

Charbonneau originally sentenced Ransom to three-and-a-half years in prison, but gave him 18 months credit for time served in pre-trial custody since Aug. 12, 2010.

Ransom first appeared in territorial court to answer to the sexual assault charge on Aug. 8, 2007, three days after the incident. He was released on a promise to appear back in court on Oct. 7, 2007, but failed to do so. An arrest warrant was issued the same day. Latimer told Charbonneau on Friday his client left the jurisdiction and was living and working in Thompson, Man., at the time. He then returned to the North and was arrested by the RCMP in Tulita on April 24, 2010. On July 5, 2010, he was ordered to stand trial in Supreme Court after a judge found there was sufficient evidence to proceed. For breaching the promise to appear in court, he was sentenced to 22 days in jail on July 20, 2010, and has remained in custody since the expiration of that sentence on Aug. 12.

Charbonneau recounted the facts of the case for the jury last Thursday before it deliberated on a verdict - that on Aug. 5, 2007, the female complainant, 27 years old at the time, showed up at a Yellowknife apartment in the early afternoon where her boyfriend, Ransom and another man were drinking heavily. The complainant began drinking as well, and after consuming between 12-20 beer, she passed out in her boyfriend's bedroom around 6 p.m. A couple of hours later, she woke up to find someone pressing up against her, so she moved to another part of the bed, said Charbonneau.

Shortly after, she awoke again to find herself on her stomach with her pants and underwear pulled down with someone, whom she believed was her boyfriend, having anal intercourse with her. Eventually, she realized it wasn't her boyfriend, and when she realized it was Ransom, she became angry and woke her boyfriend who threw Ransom out of the apartment. The next day, the complainant went to Stanton Territorial Hospital to undergo a sexual assault examination. It was hospital staff that notified the RCMP, said Charbonneau.

It took the three-man, nine-woman jury eight hours to find Ransom, 30, guilty of the charge. The trial, which began on Monday, heard testimony from several witnesses, including the victim and her boyfriend. Ransom didn't testify in his own defence.

When he addressed the court at sentencing, Ransom said he was sorry the incident happened and that he didn't remember committing the offence.

"If going to jail makes (the complainant) feel better, then that's what's going to happen," he said.

Ransom's lawyer, Hugh Latimer, said this offence was very much "out of character" for his client and said Ransom is a high school graduate, highly employable and had no previous criminal history of sexual assaults or any other form of violence. Latimer confirmed that Ransom was "as drunk as you could be without passing out" during the incident. He requested a sentence in the range of two to three years in custody.

For what she called a "major sexual assault" which constituted a "complete disregard for (the victim's) personal and sexual integrity" given that it involved a sexual assault on a vulnerable and unconscious person, Crown prosecutor Annabelle Racine asked the court to impose a prison sentence in the range of three to four years. Racine also requested Ransom be banned from owning a firearm for 10 years, that he provide a sample of his DNA to police and that he be included on the National Sex Offender Registry - all of which Charbonneau granted in her decision.

Charbonneau also sentenced Ransom to one year of probation after his release from custody.

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