A 29-year-old man will be under house arrest for a year and a half after pleading guilty to raping his first cousin.
Justice Leigh Gower noted the offender’s deep remorse when giving the sentence on Friday, including the young man’s own testimony of wishing “he could take it all back.”
The offender, whose identity is protected, returned to Whitehorse on his own accord in December to deal with the charge.
He was an employed truck driver in the Alberta tarsands.
He pleaded guilty in territorial court on January 13 and was arrested for impaired driving at the Range Road intersection 10 days later.
The sexual assault charge was laid in December 2009.
The incident happened in August of that year, after the offender and victim, who also has her identity protected, spent a night drinking in Whitehorse.
Both were drunk and took a taxi to an apartment owned by their aunt.
After it appears they broke into the apartment, the victim fell asleep, said Gower in his decision.
“(She) awoke to find her jeans had been removed and the zipper had been broken. The offender was holding her down and having sexual intercourse with her. The victim was crying and repeatedly told the offender to stop, but he continued going “harder” (to use the victim’s description), causing her pain. Eventually, the victim passed out.”
The sentencing of 18-months house arrest and two years probation includes the conditions the offender cannot have contact with the victim and he must regularly attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings.
Gower noted the man’s dysfunctional upbringing, surrounded by his family of residential school survivors who suffered from alcoholism in Old Crow.
Despite that upbringing, the offender graduated high school, achieved numerous industrial work certificates and has been “more or less consistently employed from then until now,” said Gower, who wished him the best in his future on Friday.