36-year-old Carl Michael Francis will spend the next six years behind bars after being sentenced for physically and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in 2021 while living in a tent in Bowen Park. (File photo/Nanaimo RCMP)

By Jordan Davidson

vulnerable victim

‘She was worried he would kill her:’ Nanaimo man sentenced to 6 years for violent sexual assault

Sep 14, 2024 | 9:13 AM

Editors note: This story contains graphic details that may not be suitable for some readers.

NANAIMO — A local man will spend the next six years behind bars for violently sexually assaulting and forcibly confining a vulnerable 19-year-old woman in a city park three years ago.

Carl Michael Francis, 36, was sentenced by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth in Nanaimo on Friday, Sept. 13 in relation to an incident in June 2021 in Bowen Park.

Judge Forth said Francis showed no remorse for his actions, and she’s unsure if he would be open to attending rehabilitation programs while incarcerated.

“It is clear to me that Mr. Francis has no understanding of the need to obtain consent when engaging in sexual activities. His repeated comment to the arresting officer that, ‘you can’t rape your girlfriend,’ is indicative to his lack of insight.”

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Francis was found guilty of three offences during an eight-day jury trial over the summer: unlawful confinement, sexual assault causing bodily harm, and assault causing bodily harm.

He was found not guilty of overcoming resistance to the commission of an offence.

Francis denied he assaulted the victim in any way, claiming the sexual intercourse was consensual.

Incident
Court heard Francis met the victim soon after she was released from hospital for a psychological assessment for mental health issues.

Despite dealing with mental health issues, the victim was not a regular drug user at the time.

Francis and the woman started a relationship while living in a tent at Bowen Park where Francis had been living since 2020.

A regular methamphetamine user at the time, Francis began supplying the victim with the potent stimulant.

On June 14, 2021, the victim was awoken early in the morning by Francis forcefully throwing her around the tent and to the ground, slapping her across the face, and choking her with his hands and forearm.

“She was choked until she almost passed out, then he would stop,” said judge Forth. “She would force her body to go limp so he would stop earlier.”

Following the assault, the victim tried running away, but Francis tackled her and brought her back to the tent.

Later, Francis left the tent to smoke methamphetamine and returned to sexually assault her while she lay motionless on her stomach.

“Penetrated (the victim) with his penis without consent, and as a result of sexual assault, (the victim) suffered bodily harm….she testified as to how it hurt when he penetrated her.”

Following the sexual assault, the victim again tried to flee and was again tackled by Francis and brought back to the tent.

“She was worried he would kill her,” said judge Forth, quoting from the victim impact statement.

She was eventually able to convince Francis to call 911, and she was taken to the hospital by an ambulance that evening.

She suffered serious injuries to her neck, head, and chest, including “extensive bruising”, and burst blood vessels in her face, neck, and chest due to being choked.

Judge Forth said statements from the nurse who examined the victim on the evening of June 14 were “particularly striking.”

“Out of the 280+ sexual assault examinations nurse ****** has carried out in her career, she had a strong memory of this case because of the volume of (the victim’s) injuries.”

Aggravating and Mitigating Factors
Aggravating factors included the seriousness of the attack, violation of the victim’s emotional, physical, and mental well-being, taking advantage of a young, vulnerable, and incapacitated person, and a breach of trust as the victim was Francis’ girlfriend at the time.

Mitigating factors include a minimal criminal record for Francis, the support he still receives from his mother, and the trauma he experienced in childhood.

Growing up in a small town in Saskatchewan, Francis suffered abuse at the hands of a step-father and older step-brother when he was a child.

He was struck by a vehicle at the age of seven causing head injuries.

Court was told Francis dropped out of school in grade 11, was diagnosed with opposition defiance disorder, and was kidnapped and badly assaulted when he was an adult.

Francis moved to Nanaimo around five years ago and has been unhoused and living off social assistance.

He also has two children with whom he has no contact with.

Judge Forth said Francis has a high degree of moral culpability.

“He took a very vulnerable young woman, supplied her with drugs, isolated her in a tent in a park, and physically and sexually abused her. The forceful sexual intercourse was for his own sexual gratification. He did not care what pain or distress he inflicted on (the victim). He choked her repeatedly and with enough force to leave bruises and ruptured blood vessels in her face.”

Other conditions to apply to Francis post-release include a ten-year ban on owning firearms, submitting his DNA, being placed on the National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years, and having no contact with the victim while serving his sentence.

Francis was still and emotionless in prisoner’s box while receiving his sentence, only speaking when he refused water at the start of the procedure.

Francis has been in custody since July 24, 2024.

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jordan@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @JordanDHeyNOW