Warning: the following story contains graphic details involving a sexual assault

An Inuvik man who struck his girlfriend in the face only to go on and sexually assault her sleeping mother on the same night received a two-year sentence on Wednesday.

With credit for time spent in remand custody - amounting to 365 days - the 30-year-old will serve one year behind bars, followed by two years of probation.

The offender is not being named by News/North in order to protect the identity of both victims - the manSA国际影视传媒檚 former common-law partner and her mother.

During a night of drinking in March of last year, the man punched his partner in the face - leaving her with a black eye - after accusing her of cheating.

The man then went to his girlfriendSA国际影视传媒檚 motherSA国际影视传媒檚 house, where the victim was sleeping. He pulled down her pants and sexually assaulted her as she slept.

When she awoke, he told her he was SA国际影视传媒渕aking love to her.SA国际影视传媒�

The victim chased him out of her home with a baseball bat.

The woman, Crown prosecutor Alex Godfrey told the court, has lost all trust in her childrenSA国际影视传媒檚 male friends following the attack.

She now suffers from recurring nightmares, and always makes sure her doors are locked.

The man, who was using crack cocaine and abusing alcohol in the weeks leading up to the assaults, has no recollection of the events, according to the Crown, but accepts the victimsSA国际影视传媒� account of what happened.

He pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and sexual assault, sparing the SA国际影视传媒渋ntensely relievedSA国际影视传媒� mother from having to testify, said Godfrey.

Justice Louise Charbonneau, who reserved her decision after hearing submissions from the Crown and defence on Monday, called the womanSA国际影视传媒檚 loss of personal safety SA国际影视传媒渉eartbreaking.SA国际影视传媒�

Not only did the offender attack the woman in a vulnerable state - while she slept - he committed a breach of trust when he sexually assaulted the mother of his then-girlfriend, said Charbonneau.

She called the sex assault a SA国际影视传媒渟erious violation of her personal and sexual integrity.SA国际影视传媒�

But Charbonneau said the two-year sentence she ultimately handed down was SA国际影视传媒渕uch shorter,SA国际影视传媒� than the term she had initially mulled.

Upbringing marked by SA国际影视传媒榓buse and dysfunctionSA国际影视传媒�

Instead, Charbonneau settled on the SA国际影视传媒渓owest endSA国际影视传媒� of the range - the Crown recommended 2.5 to 3.5 years in custody less remand time - after weighing the upbringing and circumstances of the Indigenous offender.

The offender, the court heard, grew up in a home marked by SA国际影视传媒渁buse and dysfunction.SA国际影视传媒� He was apprehended from his mother, a residential school survivor who abused drugs and alcohol herself, when he was only three. While never diagnosed, he believes he has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

He started drinking at 12.

On birthdays as a child, the man recounted in a pre-sentence report, his mother would gift him with marijuana before telling him to SA国际影视传媒済et lost.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒業 canSA国际影视传媒檛 survive without treatmentSA国际影视传媒�

In asking Charbonneau to consider a sentence of two years, the offenderSA国际影视传媒檚 lawyer Peter Harte drew attention to a lack of adequate rehabilitation resources and programs at North Slave Correctional Complex (NSCC), where the man has been in custody on remand.

NSCC houses inmates on remand - awaiting trial or sentencing - as well as prisoners serving sentences under two years. A sentence of two or more years is a prison term.

Harte said his client, a victim of abuse himself, is one of many failed by a corrections system - at no fault of its dedicated employees - that doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 have the resources to effectively address the criminal behaviour and underlying issues of inmates, including inter-generational trauma and FASD, before releasing them back into the community.

Harte cited a 2015 report on the territorySA国际影视传媒檚 Corrections Service from CanadaSA国际影视传媒檚 Auditor General, which found SA国际影视传媒渟erious deficienciesSA国际影视传媒� in case management for inmates at NSCC and the Fort Smith Correctional Complex.

According to the report, SA国际影视传媒渢hese deficiencies limit the DepartmentSA国际影视传媒檚 efforts to rehabilitate inmates and prepare them for release back to the community."

Harte said his client told him heSA国际影视传媒檚 desperately seeking substance abuse and trauma treatment that isnSA国际影视传媒檛 accessible at NSCC.

Harte told the court the offender confided he SA国际影视传媒渘eeds to see somebody about what happened to me as a kid,SA国际影视传媒� and that he SA国际影视传媒渃anSA国际影视传媒檛 survive without treatment.SA国际影视传媒�

He asked the court to consider a sentence that would allow his client to pursue rehabilitation, adding the offender wants to seek long-term treatment at a residential facility.

Courts must consider public safety  

Charbonneau said it goes without saying that simply SA国际影视传媒渨arehousingSA国际影视传媒� inmates before releasing them without addressing the root causes of their criminality is a concern, but stressed a lack of resources is out of the courtSA国际影视传媒檚 control.

She said public safety is a sentencing principle that must be upheld.

People who are abused can grow up to be predators, but that doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 change the need to safeguard the public from abuse, said Charbonneau.

The Inuvik man must register as a sex offender for 20 years, is barred from possessing firearms for 10, and must submit a sample of his DNA. Charbonneau recommended residential treatment for trauma and substance abuse as part of a probation plan SA国际影视传媒渄esigned to help his rehabilitation efforts.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭his is your chance,SA国际影视传媒� Charbonneau told the man.