The offender was convicted at trial of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman by forced vaginal intercourse in a dark parking lot.
At sentencing, the defence argued for a conditional sentence, relying on a psychological assessment diagnosing the offender with mild autism spectrum disorder to suggest reduced moral blameworthiness.
The court rejected this argument, finding no causal link between the disorder and the offending behaviour, which was instead driven by patriarchal ideologies.
Emphasizing denunciation, deterrence, and the profound impact of sexual violence, the court departed upward from the Crown's proposed 4-year sentence and imposed a 6-year penitentiary term.
