A Prince George man was sentenced to a further two years and 11 months in prison for an "extremely disturbing" and "extremely violent" sexual assault on an elderly woman.
Vernon Brett Faithful, 25, was issued the term for the 2013 incident in a 1900-block Upland Street apartment building and was also sentenced an additional 14 days for twice absconding to Edmonton while out on bail.
Regarding the attack, the court heard the 63-year-old woman was asleep when, at about 2 a.m. on July 13, 2013, she woke up to find Faithful straddling her midsection and wielding a knife. He ordered her to "shut up," put his hand over her mouth and told her to roll over on her side.
When he removed his hand, she began to scream. Faithful threatened to kill her if she did not keep quiet and during an ensuing struggle, she bit his hand and he responded by repeatedly punching her. She continued to scream and ripped his T-shirt before Faithful stabbed one of her hands.
She managed got into a position to kick at him while still screaming. Apparently panicked, Faithful punched her once more and ran out of the apartment.
It turned out Faithful lived in the same building and drew suspicion when it appeared he was keeping to himself and not answering the door, even though he could be heard inside the unit and the lights were being turned on and off and the window blinds opened and closed.
Three days later, RCMP executed a warrant and Faithful was arrested.
Meanwhile, a ripped and blood-covered T-shirt was found in the building's dumpster and a knife with a four-to-five-inch blade was left behind on the woman's bed. But the turning point came when Faithful's DNA was found on clippings from the woman's finger nails. Faithful subsequently pleaded guilty to break and enter with intent to commit an offence and sexual assault using a weapon.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church described the incident as "extremely disturbing" noting Faithful attacked the women when she was "extremely vulnerable" and while armed with a knife which he used to injure her.
Although the attack lasted only two or three minutes, it was "extremely violent," leaving the woman to believe she might be killed. She continues to suffer trauma and is afraid of being alone, the court heard.
Much of the hearing was spent trying to determine Faithful's state of mind at the time of the attack. He told a psychiatrist he had been drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in addition to taking medication for depression because it was the anniversary of the drowning death of a sister. Faithful also claimed he did not remember much of the incident, although it appeared he was still agile enough to avoid knocking over the items the woman had piled in her apartment in preparation to give to charity as he left. At 200 pounds and 5'11", he also had a significant size advantage over the woman, the court was also told.
In addition to depression, Faithful also claimed he suffered from schizophrenia and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, the psychiatrist disagreed, suggesting Faithful was resorting to "impression management" and that the episodes of hearing voices and seeing things were actually bouts of drug-induced psychosis.
Either way, Church agreed that Faithful endured a "tragic and chaotic" upbringing. A member of the Frog Lake Cree First Nation in Alberta, Faithful suffered abuse at the hands of family members and was in and out of foster homes and group homes.
"His lack of stability likely contributed to his dropping out of school in Grade 6," Church said. "He was exposed on a regular basis to persons who were addicted to drugs and alcohol, including his mother and father, and he himself has struggled with addiction from a very early age."
For the attack, Church sentenced Faithful to a total of 5 1/2 years in prison less credit of 933 days for time served prior to sentencing. Crown counsel had been seeking six to eight years and defence counsel argued the lower end of four to six years, both less time served. Defence counsel also suggested a sentence low enough to allow Faithful to serve the rest of the term in a provincial jail.
But Church noted the cases defence counsel used to support the position involved offenders who had no criminal record. In contrast, Faithful committed the attack just two months after completing a 30-month sentence for a robbery and assault at an Edmonton convenience store in which he also used a knife. That incident left an employee with wounds to his hand, forearm and face.
Faithful turned himself in the next morning and admitted committing the crime while also saying he wanted to go to jail because his life was "shitty" and he would be better off in an institution.
Church concluded a stiffer sentence would both address the need for denunciation and deterrence and give Faithful more time to take programming to treat sexual offending and addictions.
"He is still a young man and it's not too late to make changes in his life," Church said.
