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IQALUIT
A young woman who took part in the May 2009 sexual assault of a man will spend 13 months in jail, Nunavut Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick said in a decision released Feb. 16.

The woman and two men attacked a man at a party May 22, 2009. During the beating, the woman tore open the 29-year-old man's jeans and sexually assaulted him with a broken broomstick handle. She was convicted of sexual assault causing bodily harm.

She was 17 at the time of the offence and her identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

"The sexual assault was one act in a series of actions done by three assailants that was calculated to maximize the infliction of physical pain, humiliation and degradation upon the victim," Kilpatrick said in his decision.

His sentencing took into account the fact that the woman's not guilty plea forced the victim to relive his experience at the September 2011 trial, and that the incident risked causing serious psychological harm.

Despite this, Kilpatrick took into account the woman's "horrific" personal history as a victim of sexual victimization and loss, which "undoubtedly contributed to her unrelenting substance abuse," including the use of alcohol as a painkiller.

The woman was heavily intoxicated at the time of the offence. Her youth criminal record included a 2008 assault with a weapon conviction and numerous breaches of youth and adult court conditions - before and after the 2009 incident - that she should abstain from alcohol. Kilpatrick had already sentenced the woman to time served and 12 months probation in June 2011 for three of these violations. She was also required to take substance abuse counselling.

In the latest decision, he said the woman needed time away from alcohol and other substances.

Despite what he called commendable support from her parents, who asked to be relieved of responsibility after she broke curfew in July 2011, he said a controlled environment was the only way to curb her problems. He recommended she be transferred to a residential alcohol treatment facility if she makes progress in jail.

The two men involved in the attack avoided penitentiary terms by promptly pleading guilty to aggravated assault in late 2009. One, Mosha Noah, received a two-year sentence; the other, Joshua Angmarlik, received eight months in jail.

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