SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A man who was back in custody one day after his release from jail for sexual assault is awaiting an assessment of his mental health yet again.

This is not a new situation for Tommy Kapatoan, 21. Last year, he was in remand for 11 months awaiting a psychiatric assessment after sexually assaulting an elderly woman in February 2009 while she slept.

Kapatoan finally received the psychiatric assessment last October, his third in three years. Afterwards, he was sentenced to just one day in jail - which he served on Jan. 6 - because of his lengthy remand period, but he was arrested the very next day and charged with assaulting a police officer.

"Tommy (Kapatoan) can be referred to as having special needs," said Judge Christine Gagnon during Kapatoan's last court appearance on Feb. 16.

Kapatoan's lawyer, Dan Rideout, expressed frustration at the delays his client has experienced in getting a psychiatric assessment in the past.

Lawyers in the territory rely on the availability of beds at psychiatric institutions in Alberta when requesting a psychiatric assessment for their clients because there are no such facilities here. It's unclear, however, whether Rideout wanted his client to go back to Alberta for an assessment or meet with a doctor in Yellowknife.

"It will take some time, especially because it seems there's no system in place," said Rideout, after asking for an adjournment of two more weeks to try and get Kapatoan assessed.

Crown prosecutor Danielle Vaillancourt said the amount of time Kapatoan has spent in custody since Jan. 7 may be reaching the amount the Crown will seek as a punishment for the assault charge.

"I think (this situation) is uncharted waters for everybody," said Gagnon.

"The reality is that there is only so much time Kapatoan deserves to spend in jail. If nobody is able to help him with this situation ... we are basically institutionalizing him," said Gagnon.

While all this was going on in court, Kapatoan appeared disinterested as he sat in the prisoner's box. He was ordered back into custody until his next court date on March 2.