Hay River sex assault guilty plea
38-year-old man tried to undress sleeping woman
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Monday, April 3, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A 38-year-old man admitted in a Yellowknife courtroom Monday to trying to undo a woman's pants as she slept in her Hay River home.
Christopher Bugghins pleaded guilty to sexual assault in the incident, which took place last May 15
According to an agreed statement of facts heard before Justice Andrew Mahar in NWT Supreme Court, the female victim was asleep in her bedroom at her Wolf Drive residence in the early morning hours when she awoke to find a man's hand under the sleeping bag she was using for a blanket.
Court heard she initially thought it was her common-law spouse until she felt the hand, which she described as rough and scaly.
She realized then that it was not her spouse.
The victim said Bugghins, who was a visitor in the home, then tried to undo the top button of her pants.
He ran out of the room after she awoke but Bugghins continued peeking at her through the bedroom doorway three or four times, court heard.
The victim told her spouse who was also in the home at the time and the man eventually left the residence.
The victim and the offender had known each other for about 15 years, court heard.
Bugghins remained in custody.
He is being represented by Yellowknife criminal defence lawyer Jay Bran, while Marc Lecorre is the Crown prosecutor in the case.
They will be back in court in Yellowknife on May 1 to set a date for sentencing.
