Man charged with murder of Japanese student has separate sexual assault charge stayed
CBC News
William Victor Schneider, left, seen walking with missing Japanese student Natsumi Kogawa on Sept. 8 near Seymour and Hastings streets in Vancouver, was charged with second degree murder and indignity to a human body. (Burnaby RCMP)
The man charged with the murder of a Japanese student in Vancouver has had an attempted sexual assault charge against another victim stayed.
Natsumi Kogawa, 30, had come to Vancouver to study English. She was reported missing on Sept. 12, 2016. Her body was discovered at the Gabriola Mansion, a historic building on Davie Street in the city's West End neighbourhood.
William Victor Schneider, 49, was arrested in Vernon, B.C., on Sept. 28, 2016 — the same day police discovered Kogawa's body.
He was charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a human body.
Schnieder was also charged with attempted sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place on the day of his arrest.
The prosecution has now dropped this attempted sexual assault charge.
Dan McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the B.C. Prosecution Service, says the prosecution did so because based on a review of all the materials and evidence available, the prosecutor concluded the charge approval standard could no longer be met.
Schneider remains in custody and is expected to appear in court Oct. 16 for preliminary proceedings on the Kogawa charges.
British Columbia mosque director sentenced to 3.5 years for sex assault
GARY MCKENNA / TRI CITY NEWS
Port Coquitlam mosque director Saadeldin Bahr was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail on Friday for a sexual assault he committed in 2013.
Known as Dr. Saad in the community, the 55-year-old will also have to register as a sex offender.
In giving his reasons for the sentence, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Robert Crawford said he had considered Bahr's work in the community and the fact the defence submitted the "largest book of supporting letters I have ever seen."
But he also noted that while Bahr was deemed a low to moderate risk to reoffend, he had not taken responsibility for his actions and had showed no willingness to seek rehabilitation treatment.
"He is satisfied with himself as he is," Crawford said.
And how does that convert to being a low-moderate risk to re-offend?
The judge also brought up the struggles that the victim, known as Z in court filings, has endured since the assault occurred. Crawford told the court that she had lost her faith in her religion and feels guilt about what happened. She believes that had she been in a better state of mind, she may have done more to stop the assault from happening, he said, citing her victim impact statement.
The incident has harmed her relationships with her family and husband and has done significant damage to her mental health, Crawford added.
"How long and how bad the effects of that will be are yet to be calculated," he said.
Crown prosecutor James Powrie sought a sentence of five years while Bahr's lawyer, Richard Fowler, said a sentence of two to three years was more appropriate.
As part of his sentence, Bahr will have to provide a DNA sample to the court and he is prohibited from possessing firearms for up to 10 years.
Bahr was found guilty last June of sexual assault stemming from an incident that took place in 2013 at the Masjid Al-Hidayah and Islamic Cultural Centre in Port Coqutilam. He had been counseling the victim, who was married and suffering from depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety.
Following afternoon prayer, Bahr took the woman up to his storeroom on an upper floor of the mosque, where the initial assault took place. The court heard that Bahr told the victim that she "had a bad curse on you and we have to remove it."
He then brought her back downstairs to sit with her family, but told her to not to speak and to read passages from the Koran. Video surveillance submitted at trial showed that Bahr returned 35 minutes later and took Z back upstairs, where the assault continued.
At trial, he suggested to the court that his semen found in the victim's vagina could have come from a toilet seat, where he had ejaculated earlier in the day. He also said that the victim's DNA, which was found on his boxer shorts, may have been the result of the woman putting her hands down his pants.
So now she's the perpetrator and he's the victim?
Bahr was born in Egypt, where he became a doctor. He has worked for the World Health Organization helping refugees in Pakistan and in the former Yugoslavia, before moving to Canada in 1995.
Upon arriving in Port Coquitlam, he worked as an orderly at Riverview Hospital before starting the mosque in the late 1990s. He is married and the father of five children.
Alleged victims claim sexual abuse in lawsuit against province, church, priest
Lawsuit alleges Anglican priest Gordon William Dominey sexually abused youth in his care in 1980s
By Andrea Ross , CBC News
A B.C. man has filed a lawsuit against the Province of Alberta, the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton and Gordon William Dominey, alleging the priest repeatedly sexually abused him and at least nine other individuals while they were incarcerated at the Edmonton Youth Development Centre in the 1980s.
The plaintiff, whose name is protected by a publication ban, is seeking to have the lawsuit certified as a class action.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the plaintiff and other alleged victims, who were all aged 14 to 16 at the time of the alleged abuse, and were incarcerated at the EYDC (Edmonton Youth Detention Centre) between 1985 and 1989.
In February 2016, Dominey was charged with five counts of sexual assault and five counts of gross indecency in relation to the alleged assaults, which were reported to have happened at the facility. Dominey now faces more than 30 sexual assault and gross indecency charges, after more alleged victims came forward.
Dominey was a priest with the Anglican Diocese of Edmonton from 1980 to 1990. He was hired by the Province of Alberta to work with children at the EYDC from 1985 to 1989.
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
'He has carried this burden for three decades'
According to the lawsuit, Dominey's work at the EYDC included conducting masses and prayer sessions, providing mentorship and support services and organizing weekly social activities and swimming lessons for children.
The plaintiff was 14 when he was incarcerated at the facility for a four-month period in 1985, and turned 15 while there.
During his first visit to the swimming pool, Dominey fondled him underwater, the lawsuit alleges. Non-consensual sexual contact in the water by Dominey continued during the plaintiff's next few visits to the pool, the lawsuit alleges, before Dominey forced sexual intercourse on the plaintiff in a shower stall at the pool.
The lawsuit alleges Dominey forced sexual intercourse on the plaintiff during two more swimming outings before the plaintiff stopped going on swimming trips and cut off all contact with Dominey.
As a result of the alleged abuse, the lawsuit said the plaintiff has developed depression, anxiety and anger issues. The lawsuit claims he lost trust in authority and religious institutions, performed poorly in school and had trouble with the law. The alleged abuse affected his relationships with intimate partners and led to periods of emotional distance from his children.
"[Plaintiff] feels shame and embarrassment over what Dominey did to him, and he has carried this burden for three decades," the lawsuit alleges. "These injuries are directly attributable to Dominey's conduct."
The lawsuit claims that as a result of the alleged abuse, the survivors suffer PTSD, flashbacks and anxiety, have damaged self-esteem and relationships with family and friends, and fear being alone with male authority figures. They will require ongoing medical and psychological care as a result, according to the lawsuit, filed on Sept. 21, 2017.
Lawsuit filed after changes to Limitations Act
The lawsuit claims the Diocese and the Province of Alberta are liable for Dominey's alleged actions for failing to screen him before he was hired, supervise his work thereafter, or enforce policies that would have denied him the opportunity to allegedly abuse the plaintiff and the others.
The Diocese and the province owed a duty of care to provide a safe environment at the juvenile correctional facility, and the province breached Charter rights by not ensuring the safety of the youth and protecting their right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, the lawsuit said.
The plaintiff is seeking general and unspecified damages.
'I feel my life could have been a lot different
if this kind of thing hadn't happened.'
- Plaintiff
CBC spoke with the plaintiff, who said filing the lawsuit offers some closure.
"Him being responsible for what he did to me and others, that's what it is to me really. And some kind if retribution for inflicting the damage ... on my life," he said. "I feel my life could have been a lot different if this kind of thing hadn't happened."
The lawsuit was filed in part because of recent changes to the Limitations Act, which allow survivors of sexual offences to sue regardless of when the incidents of abuse occurred.
Changes to Alberta's limitations law paved way for historical sex assault lawsuit, lawyer says
The statement of claim has been filed with the court, but the proposal for the class-action suit has not yet been certified with the court. The defendants have 20 days to file a statement of defence.
Dominey's criminal trial is set for January 2019.
Both the criminal allegations and the allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.
Nunavut, man sentenced on child porn
and related convictions
By Walter Strong, CBC News
A Kugaaruk man was sentenced on child pornography charges Sept. 22.
Few details of the case are available and the man's name is covered under a publication ban.
He has been sentenced to just over three years imprisonment, plus two years probation that prohibits him from access to the internet, or association with anyone under 16.
Iqaluit RCMP say the investigation was international in scope, but started with Nunavut RCMP. The investigation later included assistance from the Northwest Territories Major Crime Unit and the RCMP Technological Crime Unit based in Ontario.
RCMP closed their investigation into the crimes last December. The man was sentenced for convictions on two counts of publication of an intimate image, one count of sexual interference with a person under 16, and one count of making child pornography available.
Iqaluit RCMP Cpl. Henry Coman said the investigation was launched by Nunavut RCMP after "sexual abuse imagery" was discovered online.
Coman said he could not comment on the details of the investigation, including where and when the man was arrested. A publication ban is designed to protect the identity of a victim or witness.
He said parents need to be vigilant to keep their children safe.
"Some of things that you can look for with your child is if they're using the computer in private and they don't want to be disturbed," Coman said. "Keep a close eye on what your child does and views online."
Coman said anyone who has concerns for a child's safety should immediately report it to the local RCMP detachment.
No comments:
Post a Comment