Man pleads guilty to sex assault

Crown seeking 18-month jail sentence for 24-year-old who preyed on teenage girl

A Kelowna man has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage girl and will be sentenced to jail next week.

Brandin William Corbett was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference of a person under 16 and possession of child pornography.

The offences occurred within the context of a short-lived relationship between Corbett, who was 24 years old at the time, and a 15-year-old girl.

Corbett pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault, which occurred sometime between Dec. 26, 2015, and Jan. 3, 2016,

At the time, Corbett was living in a Kelowna apartment with his mother and stepfather, the court heard Monday morning.

Corbett met the complainant on Christmas Day 2015 when she and her mother attended his parents’ residence for dinner.

The victim described her initial interaction with Corbett as platonic, and at some point in the conversation she told him she was 15 years old, said Crown counsel.

The court heard the victim suffers from anxiety and depression, and at the time of the offences she was taking a new antidepressant that left her feeling lethargic and unable to think clearly.

The first sexual offence occurred one or two weeks after the first meeting, which the victim described as Corbett touching her breasts over her clothes.

During the second incident, the accused touched her breasts under her clothes and bit her despite the victim telling him to stop.

When she tried to leave, the accused pinned her down and told her she was his and she could not leave, said the prosecutor, adding a significant size difference meant the girl could not overpower him.

He eventually let her go and asked her to send him naked pictures of herself.

She obliged and sent him about 20 nude or partially nude photos.

Later on, the girl started taking a new medication which allowed her to think clearly again, said the prosecutor.

She told Corbett she wanted to end the relationship and that she did not have feelings for him.

The accused pulled her to the floor and proceeded to grope and bite her despite the girl repeatedly telling him to stop. Eventually, he let her leave. Corbett confessed to his mother he had sexually abused the girl and that he had naked pictures of her on his computer.

She asked him to download the pictures onto a hard drive, which she then turned over to police, said the prosecutor.

The police took statements from the victim and arrested the accused on Jan. 30, 2016.

He has been out on bail since his arrest.

A doctor’s report revealed Corbett has a complex psychiatric history with borderline personality disorder.

Crown counsel suggested a jail sentence of 18 months, while defence counsel suggested a sentence between nine and 12 months.

“I made a lot of mistakes,” Corbett said in court. “I can make better decisions in the future.”

Judge Jane Cartwright said she needed time to consider the submissions and will sentence Corbett next week.