Sexual assault
R. v. W.E.S.
A publication ban applies. The offender is not named.
- Below the Crown's ask
Sentence and the Crown's position
Crown asked4 years in custody1
Judge imposed42 months (three and a half years) imprisonment1
185 days less custody than the Crown asked
What the law allows
Maximum10 years
Crown asked4 years in custody
Judge imposed3 years and 6 months in custody
The offender was convicted after trial of one count of sexual assault of a 16-year-old complainant. The Crown sought four to five years; the defence proposed no specific term but argued against a penitentiary sentence. Justice Wilkinson imposed 42 months of imprisonment, finding that the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating ones and that a sentence under two years would be unfit.
In the judge's words
1The mitigating factors in this case are far outweighed by the aggravating factors. The aggravating circumstances here, along with the absence of diminished moral blameworthiness, render a sentence of under two years an unfit sentence.
The record
- Convicted of
- Sexual assault (CC 271)
- Prior convictions
- 0 prior convictions1
- At the time of the offence
- Not stated1
- Appeal
- Not yet checked
- Counsel
- Crown: S. Mann
Defence: A. Zipp
Sources
- R. v. W.E.S., 2024 BCSC 1763 Court decision, CanLII, August 13, 2024
[7] The Crown submits that … receive a sentence of four to five years.
[62] He has no criminal record.
[75] The mitigating factors in this case are far outweighed by the aggravating factors. The aggravating circumstances here, along with the absence of diminished moral blameworthiness, render a sentence of under two years an unfit sentence.
[90] On the count of sexual assault under s. 271 of the Criminal Code, I sentence you to 42 months of imprisonment.
- Criminal Code, s. 271 Record, Justice Laws Website
- R. v. W.E.S., 2024 BCSC 1763 Court decision, Courts of British Columbia