Man to go straight to trial in assault, confinement case

A direct indictment has been filed against a man accused of sexually assaulting and confining a 21-yearold woman in a Stonebridge apartment suite for more than 12 hours.

The indictment — a list of charges at the superior court level — including counts of breaking and entering to commit a sexual assault with a weapon (a knife) and forcible confinement was read aloud Friday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench in front of a shackled Joseph Simon Peter Yaremko.

The indictment replaces Yaremko’s previous charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement, and sends his case straight to the trial stage.

Yaremko, 38, is currently self-representing as he applies for court-appointed counsel on the direct indictment.

He was arrested last June 4 at an apartment in the 100 block of Wellman Crescent and made his first court appearance two days later.

A psychiatric assessment was ordered the following month.

In September 2019, Yaremko was charged with attempted sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm and unlawful confinement while in custody. Those charges remain at the provincial court level.

Yaremko has fired three different Legal Aid lawyers. On Thursday, he was denied court-appointed counsel on the provincial court charges.

At the hearing, he argued his previous lawyers either refused to run a bail hearing for him, or were difficult to reach.

“I need a lawyer who’s got time,” he said.

Judge Bruce Bauer determined Yaremko was not denied legal aid — a requirement for anyone asking the province to appoint them a lawyer.

However, Yaremko will be provided a lawyer for the purpose of cross-examining the complainant in his in-custody sexual assault case.

He can make a separate application for court-appointed counsel on the direct indictment charges because they are before the Court of Queen’s Bench.

In the meantime, Yaremko, who is on remand in the provincial correctional system, said he needs to be on medication for his mental health issues before he can run his own bail hearing, which was scheduled for Friday.

He told Justice Mona Dovell that he hasn’t seen a psychiatrist in months, pleading with her to make an order that he get immediate medical care.

Dovell said she could not make an order at this time, but told him to bring an application to his next provincial court appearance on Feb. 26. “That’s crazy,” he said. “I might be dead by then.”

Yaremko’s next scheduled appearance in Queen’s Bench, on the Stonebridge sexual assault charge, is March 17.