Movie producer who committed sex offences apologizes at hearing
A Vancouver movie producer who committed sex offences against three women has delivered an emotional apology to his victims.
Raymond Law, 55, was reading from a lengthy letter during his sentencing hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday.
He told B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan that he’d had nearly four years in custody to examine his life and make changes, and claimed to have gained insight into how he ended up committing his crimes.
Law, who co-produced the 2011 movie Ecstasy, said that family expectations on him were high when he was growing up as a child in Hong Kong and that he’d suffered cane whippings when he fell short of those expectations.
He said that the sex offences were committed after he’d suffered a breakup with a woman that was a “crushing blow” and surrounded himself with women looking for a good time during the holiday season in 2012.
“I failed to use my better judgment and gave in to my worst impulses in coping with my loneliness, fear and resentment,” he said in the letter.
“As a result I committed a series of sexual offences. I have sexually abused people. I damaged people’s lives. I caused tremendous pain and suffering to these women that trusted me. My crimes against them are shattering and traumatizing.”
In the 13-page letter, Law said that his victims may go on to live a life with trust and confidence issues, and added he was “truly sorry ” for what he’d done to them.
In January, Law was convicted of 10 criminal counts, including sexual assault, voyeurism and administering a date-rape drug to commit sexual assault.
One of his victims he sexually assaulted twice while she was unconscious, one of the times after giving her a drink with the daterape drug GHB.
He took photos of the sex attacks.
He sexually assaulted a second woman, also while she was unconscious, and also took photos of the attack. Both women only learned of the attacks from police who showed them photos seized from Law.
A third woman was given the date-rape drug by Law, but managed to leave his residence when she suspected she’d been drugged.
In his letter, Law detailed how while in custody he’d tried to address his problems with his “deviant sexual behaviour” in part by taking treatment programs.
Crown counsel Don Montrichard objected to the statement that ran much longer than statements typically given by the defendant during sentencing hearings.
Thomas Arbogast, Law ’s lawyer, said that the fact that the police statements from the two victims who only learned from police that they’d been sexually assaulted were played in court was unusual. Arbogast said the statements were frankly “devastating ” and “heartbreaking ” to see.
But he said that in other cases involving similar offences, there were quite likely similar impacts suffered by the victims.
I failed to use my better judgment and gave in to my worst impulses in coping with my loneliness, fear and resentment.
The defence lawyer said that in his career he hadn’t seen the sort of effort made by his client during incarceration to deal with his problems.
He objected to the Crown’s approach on sentencing, arguing that prosecutors were seeking an “inflationary push” for a sentence that’s not supported by case law.
Arbogast argued that the appropriate range for sentence in his client’s case was between seven to eight years, noting that Law will be entitled to credit for five years of pre-sentence custody.
He said the most reasonable sentence, after pre-sentence custody is credited, would be two years less a day in prison followed by three years’ probation.
After Arbogast’s submissions, the judge adjourned the hearing so that the accused could be interviewed by a psychologist who Law had earlier refused to speak with. The next court appearance in the case is June 20.