City man jailed 30 months after sex assault

A Windsor man was sentenced Thursday to 26 months in prison for sexually assaulting his former partner, and handed an additional four months in custody for posting intimate photos of her on Facebook.

Superior Court Justice Alissa Mitchell said the planned and deliberate sharing of the explicit material, showing the woman nude, was an “egregious breach of the victim's trust” and an aggravating factor that added to the victim's trauma.

Citing a victim impact statement, the judge said the woman, 19 at the time of the assault in July 2018, still suffers nightmares and sleeplessness, is fearful when out in public and has “a hard time trusting males ... scared I'm going to be hurt.”

The couple, both the same age, had been in a long-term relationship and the assault came shortly after they had broken up. The victim had agreed to talk about their relationship just days after the accused had sent the explicit photos to friends and family on the victim's Facebook account.

A court-imposed publication ban prevents media from publishing information that may identify the victim. The offender, now 22, has a prior assault conviction and had pleaded guilty to distribution of an intimate image and to three breach counts from the earlier conviction.

Following a trial last year, the judge found him guilty on the sexual assault charge. In addition to prison, his name will be included on a national sex offender registry for 20 years, he was ordered to supply a DNA sample to police and is banned from owning weapons for 10 years.

Given his young age and strong family support, the judge said she was “cautiously optimistic” about his future prospects.

Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes told the Star after Thursday's hearing that it was “a fair sentence.” The prosecution had called for a three- to four-year prison term while defence lawyer Julie Santarossa was seeking a two-year jail sentence followed by three years probation.

When it comes to explicit images, it's a crime to “share something that has been given to you privately, Holmes told the Star.

“This (case) sends the message that people shouldn't be sharing explicit images anyway.”