B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale will rule this morning on what to do with a man found guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl after she had passed out during a drinking party seven years ago but who has turned himself around since then.
As of mid-September, Karl Xavier Casimer, 37, will have been sober for five years and is now a full-time father to three children. Casimer said he does not remember what happened on the night of the Oct. 18, 2007 but takes responsibility for the incident.
"I am very remorseful for my actions that night, your honour," a tearful and sobbing Casimer said during a sentencing hearing Thursday at the Prince George courthouse. "I am very sorry for that young girl. I'm very sorry for my mom and my dad and my wife. I'm very sorry to the court.
"But I am not that person today, I am a new man and I can say that with my head held high. I am a new man with a new life."
Then 30-years old, Casimer had a long criminal record and was bootlegging alcohol to minors when he ended up at a party in a 1700-block Upland Street apartment. The girl, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban, had drank enough to pass out and was put to bed by a friend.
Casimer also became drunk enough to pass out at the edge of the living room after bouncing off the walls of the apartment's hallway towards its two bedrooms and a bathroom, the court heard during a three-week trial.
Later on, the friend went to check on the girl and found her on the floor with Casimer on top of her and both with their pants and underwear down. Unable to pull him off, she called for help.
One of the men who came to her aid kicked Casimer in the face before kicking him out of the apartment.
The girl testified she did not remember anything other than being in the kitchen with her friend and waking up in the hospital.
During the trial, she did recognize Casimer as being at the party.
A physician who examined the girl after she was taken to hospital found abrasions and semen that led him to conclude she had been sexually assaulted.
Blood verified to be Casimer's was found in the bedroom, however the semen was never put through a DNA analysis. There were also some differences in witnesses stories, but Tindale noted they all said Casimer was found in the bedroom with the girl.
Delays in the investigation, related largely to the transfer of several RCMP members responsible for the file, meant that Casimer was not charged until 2014. Over that time, Casimer began taking rehabilitative steps and stopped drinking as well as consuming crack cocaine, the court was told.
At issue is whether Casimer's situation amounts to an exceptional circumstance.
Crown prosecution is recommending Casimer be sentenced to two years, considered at the low end of the scale for such an offence, while defence counsel is seeking 90 days, served intermittently.
"I recognize that it's a far cry from what would be appropriate in any other situation given the history and particularly the grievous nature of this offence," Casimer's lawyer, Keith Jones, told Tindale. "Mr. Casimer does not, in any way, wish to diminish that."
But he said the court also needs to recognize any significant efforts a person may take "to improve the quality of their lives and thereby improve the quality of the lives of their dependents."
A victim impact statement from the victim was not submitted because she could not be located and asked to provide one, the court heard.
