Man gets 101/2 years for sexually assaulting former intimate partner
Woman fears father of her child will come back from prison more angry and violent
A Martensville man who wasn't supposed to contact a former intimate partner he had assaulted and threatened in a jealous rage has been sentenced to 10-and-ahalf years in prison for breaking into her home while she slept, confining her, threatening to kill her and raping her three weeks later.
The 47-year-old man pleaded guilty at the beginning of his Saskatoon King's Bench jury trial to stealing the woman's cellphone, mischief for smashing a window and breaching a no-contact order.
His identity is being withheld to comply with a court-ordered publication ban on any information that would identify the victim or any witnesses who testified during the November 2023 trial.
The jury convicted him of sexual assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon, breaking and entering, forcible confinement and uttering death threats.
Since jurors don't give reasons for their verdicts, judges must make findings of fact to assist lawyers in sentencing.
Justice John Morrall imposed his sentence after a hearing on Feb. 23.
“You've been found guilty of a vicious, degrading crime in which you brutally sexually assaulted your former intimate partner after breaking into her residence, subjecting her to threats and to put her in a position where she thought that you were going to kill her, and held her against her will in her own home, inflicting trauma on her that will remain with (her) for the rest of her life,” Morrall said.
He found that, based on the evidence at trial, the man snuck in to the Martensville home they used to share through an open window in the middle of the night on June 4, 2021.
He had a hammer, red duct tape and a knife.
The man told her not to say anything or he would kill her, took her phone and forced her into different rooms, raping her in the basement, the shower, and a bedroom, Morrall outlined.
She begged him to stop and told him to go away.
“After he was done, he said words to the effect that he would kill her there so that when their daughter walked in she would see her horrible mother lying dead because that is what (the victim) deserved,” Morrall summarized.
The woman said she convinced her ex to leave his knife on the nightstand and kill her in the garage. When he entered the garage, she closed the door and locked it, running to her neighbours in a robe while the man smashed a window to get back inside the house.
When asked to make a finding on how many sexual assaults took place, and whether they caused psychological or physical harm, he ruled “I find that the jury found that each and every sexual assault that she testified to happened,” but could not conclude if the jury fully accepted everything she had to say about the extent of her injuries.
At trial, the man admitted breaking into the house and stealing her phone, but said they had consensual sex.
Court heard the break-in came after he discovered the victim was having an affair. On May 11, 2021, he was charged with assaulting her and her lover, mischief for vandalizing her vehicle and uttering death threats. He was released on conditions that included having no contact with the victim.
Three weeks later, as they were in the process of separating, he broke into her home in a jealous rage, Morrall said.
In June 2022, he pleaded guilty to the May 2021 assault and was sentenced to nine months of time served on remand.
The woman was “totally reliant” on his expressions to the court that he would not reoffend against her — expressions which “obviously turned out to be false,” Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss said, arguing for a 14-year sentence.
Outlining the aggravating factors in the case, he said the assaults were premeditated and “unnecessarily violent” — including the man forcing his entire fist inside her vagina — and were committed while the former couple's daughter was sleeping. Court heard she woke up during the aftermath.
It's also aggravating that the victim was a former intimate partner, Bliss said.
“My life has become a journey of fear, anxiety that leaves me feeling constantly unsafe at home, at work and in my community. I have an ongoing fear every day of (the offender) getting out. I feel that court conditions mean nothing to him,” the woman told court.
“I'm terrified that if and when he gets out next time, he will be even more dangerous and that he will come after us — that eventually, he will kill me.”
Defence lawyer Aleida Oberholzer argued for a six-year sentence, saying her client has supportive family, is remorseful for mistreating his ex throughout their relationship and is prepared to accept the court's findings and move forward.
“I can't stand up here and give you a sad story. I can't blame it on alcohol, or drugs or mental health. I made a mistake. I know my actions not only affected (the victim), they affected everyone around me. I not only embarrassed myself but embarrassed others with my actions,” the man said before he was sentenced.
“My family still loves you, I still love you, I always have, always will. Goodbye forever.”
The man wept as he read a letter to his daughter.
“I'm your dad and I'm supposed to protect you, not have you be scared of me. Sorry for letting you down, sorry for all the problems I caused you. I want to be part of your life.”
Morrall prohibited the offender from contacting his ex and their daughter while he's in prison, except through a member of the law society.
The man will be on the national sex offender registry for 20 years and is banned from possessing weapons for life.