A man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a sleeping woman in Yellowknife nearly two years ago has been sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by two years probation.
Eric Gargan, 54, moved from a seat beside his lawyer to the prisonerSA国际影视传媒檚 booth Monday afternoon after receiving the sentence from Justice Shannon Smallwood in NWT Supreme Court.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 still feeling very sorry for what ISA国际影视传媒檝e done,SA国际影视传媒� Gargan told Smallwood.
In December 2016, the court heard, a woman was sleeping in GarganSA国际影视传媒檚 Yellowknife apartment when she awoke to him sexually assaulting her. The victim pushed Gargan away. He then locked himself in a bathroom and told her he hadnSA国际影视传媒檛. done anything. The woman attempted to enter the locked bathroom to confront Gargan before leaving his apartment.
In calling for a sentence of 18 to 20 months, plus three years probation, Crown prosecutor Morgan Fane asked Smallwood to consider the aggravating factors of the sexual assault. Fane noted that Gargan served three-and-a-half years in prison for a sexual assault in the 1990s -- a dated but relevant offence he asked Smallwood to weigh when coming to her decision.
The offence, Fane said, also followed a local pattern of women being sexually assaulted while in vulnerable positions -- sleeping or passed out.
GarganSA国际影视传媒檚 lawyer, Paul Falvo, said his client, who was intoxicated and reportedly has no memory of the assault, decided to plead guilty in August after hearing his victim testify during a preliminary inquiry.
SA国际影视传媒淚t really hurt me when I saw her crying. I canSA国际影视传媒檛 change SA国际影视传媒� what ISA国际影视传媒檝e done,SA国际影视传媒� Gargan said, telling Smallwood he would apologize to the woman if she were in court.
Falvo outlined his clientSA国际影视传媒檚 childhood and upbringing -- one marked by emotional and physical abuse. Gargan, who is from Fort Providence, attended a residential school, and has struggled with alcoholism throughout his life, said Falvo.
Standing to address Smallwood before being sentenced, Gargan revisited his conviction from more than two decades ago, telling her he was convicted without evidence.
SA国际影视传媒淛ust the word of a woman,SA国际影视传媒� he said.
SA国际影视传媒淪ometimes thatSA国际影视传媒檚 all thatSA国际影视传媒檚 required,SA国际影视传媒� interjected Smallwood.
With two convictions for sexual assault, Gargan must now register as a sex offender for life.
Smallwood noted GarganSA国际影视传媒檚 victim was in a vulnerable position and couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 defend herself during the sexual assault -- an experience, she said, that sadly comes before NWT courts often.
Gargan was ordered to submit a sample of his DNA and has been banned from possessing firearms for 10 years, an order for which heSA国际影视传媒檒l be able to seek an exemption as a hunter and trapper.
