Sexual assault
R. v. T.C.
A publication ban applies. The offender is not named.
Sentence and the Crown's position
Crown asked18 months in custody1
Judge imposed18 months jail, then 3 years probation; DNA order, 20-year SOIRA, s. 109 prohibition (10 years / life)1
What the law allows
Maximum10 years
Crown asked18 months in custody
Judge imposed18 months in custody
Defence asked18 months in custody
The offender pleaded guilty on the second day of trial to a 2019 sexual assault involving forced intercourse. Crown and defence jointly proposed 18 months' jail followed by three years of probation. Justice Jackson accepted the joint submission, finding denunciation and deterrence the paramount objectives, and declined a conditional sentence as not appropriate in the circumstances.
In the judge's words
1In serious sexual assault cases, the paramount sentencing objectives are denunciation and deterrence: R. v. G.M., 2015 BCCA 165 at para. 17, citing R. v. Wells, 2000 SCC 10 at para. 44.
The record
- Convicted of
- Sexual assault (CC 271)
- Prior convictions
- 0 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Defence asked for
- 18 months in custody1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: L.M. Scruton
Defence: G. Rivard
Sources
- R. v. T.C., 2022 BCSC 2352 Court decision, CanLII, November 22, 2022
[4] My task today is to determine a just and proportionate sentence. Counsel have made a joint submission that the appropriate sentence in this case is 18 months' jail, there being no credit for any time spent in custody, followed by three years of probation with certain conditions, again on which they agree, and various ancillary orders.
[4] My task today is to determine a just and proportionate sentence. Counsel have made a joint submission that the appropriate sentence in this case is 18 months' jail, there being no credit for any time spent in custody, followed by three years of probation with certain conditions, again on which they agree, and various ancillary orders.
[10] The maximum sentence for sexual assault of an adult is imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years: s. 271(a) of the Criminal Code. There is no mandatory minimum sentence.
[21] … He has no prior criminal record.
[11] In serious sexual assault cases, the paramount sentencing objectives are denunciation and deterrence: R. v. G.M., 2015 BCCA 165 at para. 17, citing R. v. Wells, 2000 SCC 10 at para. 44.
[29] … and for the offence of sexual assault, Count 1 on the indictment, I sentence you to 18 months' jail followed by three years of probation.
- R. v. T.C., 2022 BCSC 2352 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia