Man sentenced for break and enter, assaults at Yarmouth inn

As she read her victim impact statement, the woman who was attacked in a Yarmouth inn this past May told her attacker she wanted him to look into her eyes, the same way he told her she had to look into his on a day that has forever impacted her life.

His eyes are brown, she said. She will never forget.

Christopher Joseph Bourque, 34, broke into the MacKinnon Cann Inn on May 29, attacking and sexually assaulting the woman whose identity is protected by a publication ban. He also injured an owner of the inn who came to the woman’s rescue.

In Yarmouth provincial court on Dec. 20 Bourque was handed a federal prison sentence of 64 months, which translates into just over five years. Another two months were added to the sentence from other unrelated charges involving other incidents.

Bourque — who had entered guilty pleas to charges including break and enter, assault and sexual assault — won’t serve the full 66 months behind federal bars. Since his arrest, he has been in custody for seven months and has received credit for his time on remand.

On May 29, Bourque broke into the basement of the Willow Street inn. He went to where the guest rooms are located and banged on the door of one, forcing himself into a room that was occupied by the female guest. The deadbolt was on the door. Bourque broke the door frame as he forced his way in.

The guest — who at first was confused about the banging she was hearing as she was getting ready for bed — tried to calm the situation and told Bourque he had the wrong room. Rather than leave, he approached the woman, grabbing her, restraining her and attempting to kiss her. He tried to prevent her from calling out for help by covering her mouth. Still, the woman was able draw the attention of others.

Very quickly an owner of the inn, Neil Hisgen, entered the room. When Bourque saw him he tightened his grip on the woman. Hisgen was eventually able to get Bourque out of the room, down the stairs and out the front door. As 911 was being called, however, the inn’s owner heard a sound upstairs.

“He found the accused had reentered the property and was in the complainant’s room again. He was holding her purse,” Crown attorney Alicia Kennedy had told the judge during a previous court date. “(The owner) told him to leave and another physical altercation began. At one point (Bourque) asked the owner if he wanted to bring this to another level.”

The inn’s owner perceived this to be a threat to his safety but he still focused on removing the man from the property, which he was able to do. The police arrived and were given a description of the suspect, who was located elsewhere and arrested.

The inn’s owner had received a broken collarbone in the scuffle with Bourque, which required two surgeries.

As she read her victim impact statement in court on Dec. 20, the woman described how her life has been greatly altered by what took place. At the time, days passed before she told some family members what had taken place, but she has not shared with happened to her with her coworkers, clients or friends and only just recently told other family members about the incident. She said it is her way of protecting others from knowing she had been through such a frightening ordeal. The people who do know, she said, “are hurting because I am hurting.”

During the attack, she feared for her life. She no longer feels comfortable traveling, which is problematic since her job entails a lot of travel and for a time wasn’t able to work as she dealt with the trauma of what had happened. She said she fears she will never be the same person she was before the attack.

Defence lawyer Alex Pink told the court alcohol abuse has been a problem for Bourque and said the man’s family has described the incident at the inn as being “out of character.”

In delivering his sentence, Judge Tim Landry said he agreed with the Crown, who compared the break and enter to a home invasion, noting this was a place of lodging. The woman herself refers to the inn as having been “a home away from home.” Landry called the level of violence in the case an aggravating feature and said although there was no penetration during the sexual assault, that does not lessen the seriousness of the assault.

For her part, the woman said she is very thankful to the inn’s co-owner, Hisgen, for coming to her rescue that day and feels badly that he was injured. He is a very good friend, she said. She also said she will be forever grateful to the RCMP for their handling of the situation at the time it happened, and for the continued support she has received from the RCMP in the months since.