Yellowknife (July 16/04) - A repeat sex-offender has been sentenced to five and half years in prison for brutally attacking a woman just months after being released from custody.

Lucassie Equilaq, a short frail man with glasses and long dark hair, sat silently in a Yellowknife courtroom Tuesday while Supreme Court Justice Ted Richard handed down his ruling.

"The purpose of the sentence I impose is for the protection of the community... including vulnerable women," said Justice Richard, who described the assault as "gratuitous."

According to Crown attorney Shelly Tkatch, an intoxicated Equilaq pinned his victim on the bed and punched her several times in the face and chest.

The woman's screams prompted neighbours to call authorities.

When they entered the apartment, they found Equilaq on top of the woman, her shirt wide open.

Equilaq was released from prison less than five months before the assault took place.

The conviction was Equilaq's seventh for a sex crime since 1978. The list includes three convictions in 1994 and 1995 for a series of sexual assaults committed in the 1970s.

In one of those cases, Equilaq was found guilty of raping a nine-year-old girl.

After serving 11 consecutive years in prison for those crimes and another sexual assault in 1991, Equilaq was released in April of 2003.

Tkatch asked for a sentence in the range of eight to 10 years for his latest sex-assault.

Richard settled on a seven-year sentence and gave Equilaq 18 months credit for the time he spent in pre-trial custody.

"As egregious as the circumstances are, this cannot be said to be the worst case to come before the court," said Richard.

Richard ordered Equilaq would not be eligible for parole until half his sentence has been served.

Despite his lengthy record, the Crown attorney's office decided not to seek a dangerous offender order, which would keep Equilaq under close supervision after his release.