Homeless man guilty in attack

Woman groped at knifepoint

A 28-year-old homeless man violated a woman’s “sexual integrity” when he attacked her with a knife near Lees station in the middle of the night and rubbed her thigh this past winter, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Jamie Murray said that he was trying to rob the woman when he locked his arm around her, held a blade to her cheek and fell on top of her during the ensuing struggle. A report filed to the court found he has a mild mental delay.

But Ontario Justice Bruce Frazer rejected his guilty plea to the lesser charge of assault with a weapon and convicted him of sexual assault with a weapon.

The woman, 20, said she passed Murray on the street at about 4 a.m. on her way home from a downtown Ottawa bar on Jan. 20. She started to run when she noticed he was following her, she testified Monday.

“If robbery was his motive, he had every opportunity to do so as he passed her on the street,” Frazer said.

The woman testified that Murray told her to “shut up” and touched the back of her thigh as she lay face down on the ground. She fought him off and reported the assault to a nearby OC Transpo Special Constable.

“Her sexual integrity was being violated,” Frazer said. “There is no other logical conclusion.”

The court has ordered a sexual behaviour assessment and recommended an MRI before his sentencing on Nov. 25.

Murray has previously served 56 days in jail for assault causing bodily harm.