Appeals court sets minimum sentence in CamBay rape: Crown

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

A Cambridge Bay man who raped two women while they were sleeping escaped a longer prison sentence, after a Crown lawyer asked the territory’s appeals court to increase the time he would spend in jail.

Instead, Jay Victor Evalik, 24, will see his case become a benchmark for future sentencing in sex crimes involving an attacker entering his victim’s home, according to the Crown lawyer.

In one incident, Evalik used a knife to cut the underwear and crotch of his 47-year-old victim’s pants while she was passed out in her living room after drinking alcohol.

Six days later, Evalik undressed a woman in her thirties while she was sleeping on her couch, then dragged her to her bedroom when she woke up. He sexually assaulted the woman before she escaped by jumping out a window and running to a neighbour’s house.

The Nunavut Court of Appeal recently threw out a Crown appeal to increase Evalik’s sentence to five years in prison, minus one year as credit for the six months that he spent in custody after his arrest last year.

Evalik will keep his original sentence of four years, less a year for time already spent in custody.

But Crown prosecutor Marian Bryant said in an interview that the case was significant because the judges established the minimum amount of time for such crimes in Nunavut.

She said Evalik’s sentence of four years will be the minimum jail time for someone who pleads guilty to a similar crime. The sentence would likely be increased if the case goes to trial, on a plea of not-guilty.

Bryant argued that Evalik’s crimes deserved a heavier sentence, in part, because they involved a home invasion. But the defence said his crimes didn’t fit the legal definition of home invasion.

“The seriousness of these two sexual assaults cannot be overstated,” Bryant wrote in her written submissions for the May 18 appeal hearing.

Evalik’s sex crimes in Cambridge Bay occurred near the end of April 2004.

They were added to a string of convictions over the past 10 years involving multiple break-ins, thefts, mischief, breaches of probation, and another sexual assault.

Evalik’s defence lawyer wanted his sentence to be two years less a day, in light of his difficult childhood and other factors.

Evalik inherited a “serious” case of alcoholism from his parents, according to his appeal lawyer, Marvin Bloos.

“Mr. Evalik has a severe problem with alcohol,” Bloos wrote in his arguments to the three judges hearing the appeal.

“Mr. Evalik grew up with alcoholism, hiding from alcoholics, watching alcoholics and immersed in alcoholism. His was a dysfunctional household.”

His lawyer noted that Evalik witnessed a relative being sexually assaulted during a party at his home when he was a child.

Later, Evalik became a victim of sexual assault when he was a teenager, Bloos told the court.

Evalik had been drinking before he raped his victims in April. He had been to three parties on the night of the first incident. In both cases, he claims he doesn’t remember anything that happened.

Bloos said although Evalik’s alcoholism and his past don’t excuse his crimes, it does “explain” his actions.

He added that a longer prison sentence would likely “damage” Evalik even more, and remove any chance for rehabilitation.

The Crown and defence also argued about how much credit Evalik should get for his guilty plea.

The defence lawyer said there were “strong public policy” reasons to encourage guilty pleas by giving lighter sentences.

Bloos said criminals will stop pleading guilty, if judges don’t reward them with lighter sentences.

Without a guilty plea, victims would likely testify at a trial, which is usually emotional torture for them.

Defence lawyers said a trial would also lengthen the case. Trials are prone to weather delays or postponements from conficts in scheduling.

The Crown argued that public safety was more important.

Evalik will likely serve his sentence in a southern prison.