Canadian Families Shocked by Light Sentence for Sexual Offenders

Families shocked by sentence for Winnipeg couple who sexually assaulted teens

14 Nov, 6:34 PM

WINNIPEG (CP) - Family members of two young sex assault victims cursed and sobbed in court Tuesday after a judge handed down what they considered light sentences for a husband and wife who lured the girls to their home and raped them.

Winnipeg police and justice officials have called the case one of the worst they've ever seen, and it has drawn comparisons to the shocking sex murders of two Ontario schoolgirls by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

The 25-year-old woman, who was convicted of three counts of sexual assault and forcible confinement, was to be released Tuesday after Justice Gerald Jewers gave her a sentence equal to the two years she spent in pretrial custody.

Her common-law husband, who was convicted of eight charges including kidnapping and sexual assault, was sentenced to seven additional years in prison. Jewers said he was given less credit for time served because of his "continuous and appalling bad behaviour" in custody.
The pair, dressed in matching grey sweatshirts, chatted amicably in the prisoners box while waiting for Jewers to arrive.

As the man, now 34, was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he aimed a smile towards some of the victims' relatives and rubbed his hands together.

"I'm very upset," one woman said through tears as she left the courthouse. "My family's very upset."

Another woman said the female accused was Manitoba's answer to Karla Homolka.

One young victim testified that as a 12-year-old she was held as a sex slave by the couple for several months, given pills and alcohol and tied to a bed and raped.

The victim, now 14, said she was twice abducted off the street, including one time that involved her being thrown in the trunk of a car.

The girl is a cousin of the woman. Her attackers are not being named in order to protect her identity.

Another victim, now 20 years old, testified she was 13 when she started going to the couple's house, where she was offered free liquor. The first time, the man raped her while the wife held her down, she said.

Fear kept her going back to the house, every weekend for a year or two, because the man told her he knew Hells Angels members and he would torture and kill her and her family, she said.

The girl became pregnant with the man's child when she was 16.

Crown prosecutor Jill Duncan had asked for sentences of up to 18 years for the man and up to eight years for his spouse.

She said both girls are still struggling to recover from their ordeal, but a psychological assessment of the 14-year-old victim is especially discouraging.

"This girl has no hope, she has no dreams, she has no future," said Duncan. "It's unfathomable the damage this girl has undertaken."

During a sentencing hearing last month, Duncan said the crimes could only be described as evil.

"The extent of the depravity and perverseness of this case is rarely seen."

Duncan noted that while she never mentioned in court the similarities to the Bernardo and Homolka case, the comparison has been made to her "innumerable times."

Bernardo is serving a life sentence for the sex slayings of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.

His former wife, Homolka, is living in Montreal after serving her full 12-year manslaughter sentence.

The Winnipeg couple faced 21 charges, but Jewers said not all the charges were proven to his satisfaction.

"What remains is serious enough."

He said the couple showed no remorse and did not spare their victims the trauma of testifying.

But he also noted the woman did not have a prior record and the man had only one dated, minor conviction that was unrelated to the current charges.

Defence lawyer Jeff Nichols, who represents the man, said he'll review the merits of an appeal, especially on the judge's decision not to grant the standard credit of double-time for pretrial custody.

He said it is "a tremendous exaggeration" to compare the case to Bernardo.

"There was a lot of evidence presented that ultimately, at the end of the day, the court decided not to accept," said Nichols.


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