Bindra guilty in multiple sexual assault case

A Lethbridge man drugged three women and sexually assaulted them on separate occasions a judge has concluded.

Judge Jerry LeGrandeur found Sohil Bindra guilty Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court of administering a drug to the women so he could assault them. He stayed one charge of sexual assault in relation to one of the women, and dismissed the same charge in relation to a fourth woman.

LeGrandeur said the women’s testimony during trial last year was credible, while Bindra’s was not, and although there was no direct evidence showing Bindra drugged the women, the similarity of the assaults and the amount of circumstantial evidence presented to him removes any doubt.

“It is my conclusion given the evidence of the three complainants, (and a witness) there is a distinct pattern of conduct with respect to the alleged offences committed against them, whereby each of them were incapacitated physically and mentally to some degree or another by drugging, and then sexually assaulted while under the influence to some extent, and that in each case the accused is connected or implicated to such activity,” LeGrandeur said.

Bindra, 35, sexually assaulted the three women between 2018 and 2020. The accused denied the allegations, and testified during his trial that all the women consented to the liaisons.

During the trial in November and December, a woman testified Bindra assaulted her in his vehicle in the spring of 2018. Bindra was found guilty of sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in relation to the assault against the woman.

Another woman testified Bindra sexually assaulted her after he gave her and a friend a ride home from a bar in February of 2020. He was found guilty of housebreaking and commit sexual assault, sexual assault and administering a noxious substance in relation to that woman. He also faced a charge of sexual assault in the form of an unwanted kiss - in relation to the woman’s friend to whom he gave a ride home, but LeGrandeur said the Crown did not prove the absence of consent and he dismissed that charge.

“In all circumstances present in the context of their interaction in this instance, I’m not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the complainant was not consenting in her mind at the time the kissing took place.”

A fourth woman told court during the trial that she was too drunk to drive home to Taber following a work Christmas party in December of 2018, and was sexually assaulted after Bindra allowed her to stay the night at his westside home. Although Bindra said she was coming onto him, she testified she did not consent and told him no. He was found guilty of administering a noxious substance and sexual assault.

Bindra was also found guilty on two drug charges; one for possessing cocaine and the other for possessing the substance he used to drug the women.

The matter is scheduled to return to court May 17 to speak to setting a date for a sentencing hearing.

Bindra is scheduled to face two separate sex assault trials later this year in relation to two other women.

The first trial is set for June 2024, while the other trial has yet to be scheduled.