Man gets one year in jail for sexual assaults
A Hamilton man who randomly attacked two young women — chasing them down, choking and sexually assaulting them on an east Hamilton street — has been sentenced to a year in jail.
The attack only ended when one of the victims bit her attacker’s tongue, leaving a piece of his tongue at the scene, court heard.
Chad Scally pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the victims, who were 16 and 21 at the time of the Jan. 8, 2016, attack.
“This event came seemingly out of nowhere,” Ontario Court Justice George Gage said during a Feb. 7 sentencing hearing. “It was shocking, it was terrifying ... and it was persistent in a way that is disturbing.”
Court heard that Scally, who was 33 at the time and had no criminal record, had been drinking when around 3 a.m. he randomly attacked the young women.
His defence lawyer, Larissa Fedak, described a childhood with some violence and alcohol abuse. He also suffered brain injuries in two accidents, was medicated for ADD and believes he has an undiagnosed mental illness.
Scally’s guilty plea is “truly a sign of remorse,” Fedak said, adding that both Scally and his family want to investigate what precipitated this behaviour and seek out treatment.
Despite knowing the facts of the case, whatever “compelled” Scally to attack remains largely a “mystery,” said Crown attorney Brent Bentham.
“In my submissions there is something that lurks within the accused which has largely been unaddressed,” Bentham said.
Gage agreed to recommend Scally serve his sentence at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton, where he could have access to programming for sexual deviancy and mental illness.
The victims, who fought off their attacker, sustained bruises and have suffered emotionally, Bentham said.
“(She) has lost her sense of security, afraid to go out in public,” he said, referring to a victim impact statement.
Scally, who was out on bail under house arrest, was sentenced to 12 months in jail, plus three years of probation and a lifetime on the sexual offender registry.
It was shocking, it was terrifying ... and it was persistent in a way that is disturbing.
ONTARIO COURT JUSTICE GEORGE GAGE