Andrew Raven
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 15/05) - A drunk Rae-Edzo man who raped an acquaintance, apparently mistaking the woman for his girlfriend, has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars.

Through a Dogrib interpreter, Lawrence Lloyd Blackduck pleaded guilty to sexual assault Thursday in Supreme Court.

Blackduck entered an apartment in the North Slave hamlet of Rae last December through an unlocked front door. The 38-year-old went into the bedroom where he found the victim - who had been drinking - asleep.

When the woman awoke, his hands were around her neck, Crown attorney Loretta Colton told the court.

She frantically tried to turn on a light, but Blackduck threw her on the ground and pulled down her pants, Colton said. After the assault was over, Blackduck walked out of the apartment and the woman caught a glimpse of his face; he was arrested by police later that evening.

"This was a very frightening situation for the complainant," Colton said. "She was attacked in her own home, in her own bed."

Thursday, his lawyer explained that Blackduck mistook the woman for his girlfriend during the Dec. 20 rape even though she fought against his advances. Blackduck had been drinking all night with his girlfriend, left her apartment to get more alcohol and returned to the wrong residence, said defence lawyer Kelly Payne.

"He was shocked when he found out (the victim) was the woman he had sex with," Payne said.

Blackduck had been released from the North Slave Correctional Centre just 10 days earlier after serving a sentence for his sixth assault conviction. He was re-arrested three days later for breach of probation, but released by a justice of the peace on a recognizance, commonly known as bail.

He committed the sexual assault one week later.

"I don't know why I am doing the things I am doing," said Blackduck, who broke down several times while addressing the court.

Justice Ted Richard ordered that Blackduck, who spent nine months in custody awaiting trial, be placed on probation for one year after his release. His name will also be added to a national registry of sex-offenders.