‘Never your fault’

Sexual assault victim’s friend encouraged her to seek help following incident

A 47-year-old man from Wilmot Valley has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for touching a person under the age of 16 in a sexual manner.

Joseph Leonard Thomas pleaded guilty Dec. 1, 2016, and was sentenced Feb. 23, 2017. The incident took place in early February 2016. Thomas has one previous sexual assault-related conviction from 1994 in Halifax, which the judge noted as a significant aggravating factor, despite being dated. In addition to jail time, Thomas was also sentenced to three years of probation. He was ordered to have no contact with his victim and must submit a DNA sample to the national criminal database. He is prohibited, for life, from owning a weapon and will be added to the national sex offender registration list.

Circumstances

The assault took place while both the victim and the accused were drinking alcohol.

Immediately after the assault, the victim reached out to a friend who encouraged her to report the incident.

The transcript of the exchange between the two girls was included in the facts of the case. Throughout the conversation the victim blamed herself for what had happened.

Her friend was having none of that kind of talk.

“It’s never your fault,” the friend wrote. He shouldn’t have even considered touching you in the slightest! It is not your fault, I promise.”

“And you have to stay strong and report it. It isn’t your fault!” she added later.

The girls agreed to meet up and talk at school the next day. Before that could happen, however, a counsellor surmised something was wrong with the victim and investigated. The victim asked for her friend to be present and then recounted what happened. She was then taken for medical care.

Later that day, Thomas called RCMP, which had not been involved yet in the case, and asked to meet with an officer. He admitted to the assault during that meeting and later gave a full statement.