SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife Supreme Court jury did not accept a 29-year-old man's story that his sexual intercourse with a drunk woman at a party was consensual. He was sentenced to four years in jail Wednesday.

Stanley Ameralik showed no emotion as Justice J. Edward Richard announced his jail term for committing the sexual assault on Dec. 29, 2009. Ameralik was given nine months credit for time served, leaving him with 39 months to serve.

It took a jury of five men and seven women two hours to reach a verdict on Tuesday.

During the two-day trial, which began on Monday, the victim, 18 at the time of the offence, testified she didn't remember the assault because she "blacked out" after drinking too much alcohol. She testified she remembered seeing the defendant only once that night before blacking out - sitting on a couch in the downstairs living room during a party at a downtown apartment complex.

Ameralik took the stand on Wednesday and testified that the sex was consensual. He said he and the victim were talking while drinking heavily at the party. When Ameralik headed for the washroom, he testified the woman grabbed his arm and led him upstairs to one of the bedrooms. There, the two began "French kissing" when he asked her to "make love." He said she agreed, and they took off their pants and had intercourse without a condom. During his testimony, he said he blacked out at one point during intercourse.

Given that the victim didn't remember the incident, the Crown had to rely on the only witness to the assault - David Maniyogina. He testified he saw Ameralik on top of the complainant in the bedroom. He went to the bathroom, and when he returned, he said he noticed they were both "half-naked" and Ameralik was having intercourse with her as she was passed out. At this point, Maniyogina told him to stop and then called the police.

The RCMP - responding at 7:25 a.m., 10 minutes after receiving the call - found Ameralik passed out face down in the bedroom with his clothes on while the victim was downstairs. The police arrested Ameralik initially for breach of probation for consuming alcohol the night before, and charged him later in the day with sexual assault.

He later escaped police custody outside the courthouse that day, and spent the night sleeping in a stairway at the Explorer Hotel. The next day at 12:20 p.m., RCMP arrested him in an aisle at Canadian Tire still handcuffed and pushing a shopping cart with a pair of bolt cutters. He has been in custody since Dec. 30, 2009.

He testified he fled police so he could hitchhike to Golden, B.C. to attend his aunt's funeral in early January.

During sentencing, Richard cited Ameralik's lengthy criminal record, including seven crimes of violence and a break, enter and sexual assault in 2004. Ameralik moved to Yellowknife in 2003 after growing up in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut. His lawyer requested a jail sentence of three years whereas the Crown sought a sentence of four to five years.

After the sentencing, the victim told the media she was pleased with the sentence.

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