Man sexually assaults wife at knife point
Fort Good Hope offender sentenced to two years in jail
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 3, 2014
RADILIH KOE'/FORT GOOD HOPE
A Fort Good Hope man has been sentenced to two years less a day in jail after pleading guilty to a number of offences, including an extremely violent sexual assault.
News/North is not naming the 22-year-old man to protect the identity of his victim. He was sentenced by NWT Supreme Court Judge Louise Charbonneau in Yellowknife on Oct. 31. The man received his punishment for events dating back to February 2013.
Court heard he was intoxicated when he assaulted his common-law wife outside their residence in Fort Good Hope. The man grabbed her by the throat and forced her back into the home. An RCMP officer happened to be in the area and witnessed the assault. The Mountie then arrested the man.
He was released from custody on a condition that he not consume or possess alcohol. Five days later, the man returned to the residence in the middle of the night intoxicated, and terrorized the woman over several hours.
Court heard he punched, kicked, choked and threatened to kill her. The man also used two different knives to threaten her and eventually held her down on a bed and sexually assaulted her. The victim tried unsuccessfully to escape. She eventually waited for the man to fall asleep and fled the home before calling RCMP.
Crown prosecutor Jill Andrews had called for a three-to-four year prison sentence. Defence lawyer Tracy Bock suggested the two-year jail term would be more appropriate.
Bock said the home the man grew up in was an alcohol-fueled, very violent place. Bock also said as a child, the man was often forced to hide under the bed or flee to his grandmother's house to escape.
In handing down her sentence, Charbonneau acknowledged the man's traumatic past. However, she said it could not be used as an excuse for his violent behaviour.
She did give him credit for pleading guilty early in the court proceedings and waiving his right to a preliminary hearing. Charbonneau said that kept the victim from having to testify in court.
Charbonneau also sentenced the man to three years probation. She said it is important for the man to receive counselling and support once he is released from jail.
"The longer he is supervised upon his release, the better," she said.
The man was given one year's credit for the eight and a half months he has already spent in pre-trial custody. He is also banned from possessing or consuming alcohol for three years upon his release, and from possessing a firearm for 10 years. His DNA and name will be added to the sex offender registry.
The victim was in court for the sentencing. She was allowed to give the man a long embrace in the courtroom before he was led away by an RCMP officer to begin his sentence.
