Nanaimo man sentenced for disturbing sexual abuse, considered high risk to re-offend

In March, the offender pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault, however he was out on bail when he was re-arrested on June 20 for breaching court-ordered conditions.

The Crown’s Neal Bennet told court the offender and victim met in May 2021 and started a relationship marred by violence and manipulation on behalf of the offender.

While on probation for a separate sexual assault as a youth, the offender smuggled the victim into his group home in December 2021.

The then 15-year-old girl wanted to go to sleep, however the offender, 18-years-old at the time, wanted sex.

He then repeatedly sexually assaulted her before stopping and apologizing as she burst into tears.

He later texted her: “Sorry, I didn’t want to rape you, you didn’t want to be with me.”

A night or two later he convinced her to come over again, promising he wouldn’t pressure her for sex this time.

The opposite happened as the offender repeatedly begged for sex, becoming enraged when he was rejected.

“He grabbed her by the shoulder and ultimately punched her in the face,” Bennet told court.

He demanded she stop crying so he could have sex with her and wouldn’t let her go unless she complied, court was told.

He then became remorseful, was apologetic for his behaviour and said he loved her.

In addition to sexual and physical abuse, the offender inflicted another form of abuse by coercing the victim to send nude pictures of herself.

“He persuaded (the victim) to give him more nude photographs and then threatened to make those photographs public if she didn’t provide him with more nude photographs of herself.”

Following a second traumatic trip to the group home, the victim’s mother was looped into the situation, Nanaimo RCMP were contacted and a formal complaint filed.

Copies of text message exchanges between the victim and offender were given to police, while pictures of bruising were submitted, including the aftermath of the punch to the face.

The offender’s youth record includes several convictions for property crimes and multiple breaches.

A pre-sentence report outlined how he lacked insight into his offending.

“She hurt my feelings by calling me a rapist, so I raped her. She wouldn’t have sex with me so I had to rape her,” he told his probation officer, with the offender admitting to assaulting her several times.

The report showed he displayed inappropriate behaviour toward under-aged girls, the Crown’s Bennet stated.

Bennet said the offender’s compliance while in custody and on bail has been poor.

“This is not a person your Honour in the Crown’s submission with a great dealing of understanding or insight into his behaviour.”

A psychologist’s forensic evaluation determined the offender is “in the high range” to re-offend both sexually and with violence, citing a lack of empathy, awareness, anti-social attitudes, sexual pre-occupation and impulsivity.

Reporting the offender is motivated by desires to punish victims for perceived transgressions, the psychologist noted resistance to make personal changes renders rehabilitation “quite challenging.”

Risk management recommendations in the forensic’s report involved sex offender treatment, general psychological therapy and treatment for substance abuse.

He sat silently in the prisoner’s box during the sentencing hearing and declined to address the court.

A victim impact statement was not submitted.

Fully acknowledging his client’s offending was serious, defence attorney Chris Churchill said their sentence recommendation was at the high-end of the case law range.

Born to Middle Eastern refugees, the offender was placed in foster care at three-years-old and began displaying behavioural issues three years later.

He bounced around to several foster homes, was abused by his foster mother at 16-years-old and spent time homeless as a youth, Churchill told court.

Churchill said his client was the victim of racial based discrimination numerous times.

“When he was in a foster home in Departure Bay, a group of youths came and threw rocks at the window, they lured him outside the safe house on Tenth St. and beat him to the ground, they chased him through Duncan, he left the community.”

Numerous cognitive challenges inflict the victim, Churchill said, including ADHD, OCD and Borderline Personality Disorder.

Abandonment issues and intense needs for connection are also at play, Churchill said in reference to the forensic report.

The offender needs to work on remorse and insight into his offending, Churchill said.

“He has had an extremely difficult road.”

Judge Hodge said the offender’s moral culpability was high “but that must be tempered with consideration of his personal circumstances and how his upbringing may have effected or contributed to his offending behaviour,” she said.

The offender’s probation contains numerous conditions, including staying away from the victim, requiring permission to be in contact with minors, as well as various counselling provisions.

He’ll be on the National Sex Offender Registry for 10 years, which is a database only accessible by police departments nationwide to more easily identify and track the movements of sex offenders.

A five year weapons ban and mandatory DNA sample order also apply.

The offender is slated to serve a further 377 days behind bars due to pre-sentencing credit served behind bars.

While BC Corrections will determine where he’ll serve his jail tenure, it was recommended he attend the Ford Mountain Correctional Centre in Chilliwack, which has specialized programming for sex offenders.

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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

Nanaimo man sentenced for disturbing sexual abuse, considered high risk to re-offend

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