Elijah Grier-Gaiga was sent to jail for four years this week after he was convicted by a B.C. Supreme Court jury in Nanaimo last year of sexual assault involving a woman with cerebral palsy. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

non consensual

Man jailed for violent sexual assaults against vulnerable Nanaimo woman

Mar 7, 2025 | 5:26 AM

NANAIMO — An offender’s developmental and behavioural disorders weren’t enough to prevent him from going to jail.

Elijah Grier-Gaiga, 29, was sentenced to federal penitentiary for four years after he was found guilty of a sexual assault charge in relation to six incidents between Oct. 1, 2019 and Feb 1, 2020.

The Port Alberni man was convicted following a B.C. Supreme Court jury trial last year in Nanaimo, which relied entirely on the complainant’s testimony.

In reference to facts not challenged during cross-examination by Grier-Gaiga’s lawyer, the complainant testified to the half-dozen incidents after the pair met online.

The victim, who can’t be named, has cerebral palsy.

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Grier-Gaiga has extended documentation of cognitive and mental health disorders dating back to when he was eight years old.

The Nanaimo woman expressed an apparent interest in experimenting with rough sex, domination, submission and enacting rape fantasies during an initial online conversation between the two.

While consensual sex was an acknowledged feature of the relationship, she stated Grier-Gaiga became increasingly abusive and degrading, and she didn’t feel it was safe to leave the relationship.

Non-consensual sex acts included the woman being hospitalized for injuries on one occasion, as well as repeated incidents in a trailer near Port Alberni over multiple days in which Grier-Gaiga took her phone away.

He grazed a knife on her back and showed her weapons in his vehicle, viewed by the victim as intimidation and manipulative control tactics but interpreted by Grier-Gaiga as fulfilling his role as a dominant figure.

The offender contends he didn’t do anything wrong and was just playing his part, as documented in a pre-sentence report and psychiatric assessment.

He believed the victim was madly in love with him, and if she didn’t like the way she was treated, she wouldn’t come back for more.

The pre-sentence report stated Grier-Gaiga demonstrated misogynistic attitudes and a poor understanding of consent.

Grier-Gaiga may have misinterpreted “stop” and “no” statements by the victim as a feature of their role-playing.

During recent sentencing arguments in which defence attorney Stephen Littley pitched a non-custodial sentence, he said Grier-Gaiga’s deficits reduced his level of moral culpability.

“Mr. Grier-Gaiga presented as quite literal in his communication style, therefore, there is scope for misunderstandings in a number of different contexts that can lead to anti-social outcomes,” Littley contended during Feb. 21 sentencing arguments.

While justice Baird had a different view during his Tuesday, March 4 judgment, he did acknowledge Grier-Gaiga’s struggles to grasp social cues.

“While this is conceivable given his documented difficulties with communication and ambiguity, the victim’s report that he appeared to enjoy her discomfort, pain and distress and became more aroused at such times is troubling.”

Justice Baird stated the offender appeared to be under the false belief he could use the complainant as he pleased.

Grier-Gaiga was determined by a clinical psychiatrist to be a moderate to high risk to re-offend with sexual violence.

The offender showed “a total lack of insight” into his conduct, justice Baird told court.

“In my view, his treatment of this complainant was abominable, sustained, cruel and inexcusable.”

Grier-Gaiga had a disadvantaged upbringing, including an abusive stepfather, who court was told sexually abused him.

Court was told Grier-Gaiga’s stepfather doused himself with gasoline in a suicide attempt in front of him as a child.

Grier-Gaiga’s diagnosis include alcohol related neurodevelopment disorder, severe learning disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and PTSD.

A father with a second child on the way, Grier-Gaiga takes various medications to help his focus, organization, impulse control and anxiety.

While initially indicating his desire to address the court, he reconsidered and declined the opportunity.

Grier-Gaiga’s long-term plans involve moving to Russia to escape, in his words, “corruption” in Canada and to be closer to his wife’s family.

Crown counsel’s Tania Holland pushed for a sentence of six to seven years behind bars.

She argued Grier-Gaiga’s conduct included elements of forcible confinement and planning.

“He has above average intelligence, he knows what is right and wrong,” Holland pitched during sentencing arguments last month.

The victim appeared on a virtual video feed Tuesday afternoon to express how the abuse she endured has impacted her life to this day.

She said Grier-Gaiga purposely took advantage of her disability, and she felt she couldn’t get out of the situation.

“I still have emotional and psychological effects from what occurred. I feel that I’ve experienced such a wide array of emotions as a result of the trauma and abuse because I wasn’t able to process it for a very long time.”

She won’t forgive him, telling court he hasn’t apologized.

The woman said she didn’t deserve the violence, coercion, belittling and laughing at her expense.

“It was a violation of my body, of my energy, of my essence. There is no permission for that abuse, nor was it sought. I am taking back what you stole piece by piece.”

The offender was ordered to provide a DNA sample, handed weapons restrictions, and his name will appear on the police-only accessible National Sex Offender Registry for 20 years.

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