Man admits to sexual assault of stranger

David Paul Natamogan says he has no memory of sexually assaulting a stranger one morning in December, but a witness literally caught him with his pants down.

Natamogan, 20, pleaded guilty Thursday in Saskatoon provincial court to sexually assaulting a 52-year-old woman he encountered walking in the area of 20th Street West and Avenue P around 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 7, 2012. He says he was so intoxicated that he doesn’t remember the assault, but he admits it happened.

The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was walking to her husband’s house when Natamogan approached her and asked for money and food, Crown prosecutor Frank Impey said. She refused, and Natamogan followed her northbound on Avenue P. At the end of the block, he stopped her, pulled her to the ground and pinned her down.

He demanded she perform oral sex for two minutes and then he would let her go, court heard. He forcibly kissed her and undid his pants, then forced himself on her.

“She was quite frantic when giving that statement to police, and obviously distraught,” Impey said.

The victim struggled throughout and tried to flag down traffic. A few minutes into the assault, a grey truck circled around, then stopped. A man got out and approached, at which point Natamogan got up, did up his pants and walked away, but the man followed Natamogan and detained him until police arrived.

Impey argued for a prison sentence of five years, given the “very troubling aspects” of the assault, including that it occurred against a stranger on a public street at a time of day when people expect to be safe from such attacks.

Defence lawyer Grant Crookshanks argued for a prison sentence of three years, minus seven months credit for time spent on remand. He said Natamogan was abused as a child by his father and his mother’s subsequent boyfriend, and started getting into trouble at a young age. He entered an early guilty plea and was remorseful for his actions, Crookshanks noted.

Judge Marilyn Grey adjourned her decision on sentencing until July 31.