A Prince George man was sentenced Thursday to time served and three years probation for groping three women over a single day.
Cody Jack Joseph, 20, had remained in custody since his arrest June 8, a span of 206 days.
He was apprehended roughly two hours after RCMP were called a report that a woman had been groped as she was walking near Quinn and First Avenue.
A bit more than an hour later, RCMP received a report of a second incident this time at a local motel. They seized security camera video of Jack grabbing and trying to kiss a woman.
Police, who were looking for a young man wearing a dark blue suit jacket and ripped jeans, tracked Joseph down to a Quinn Street home with the help of a service dog and officers on bike patrol.
Both women were strangers to Joseph as was a third who learned about the incidents through local media and reported to police after his arrest that she had been accosted that same day at College of New Caledonia.
Joseph, who pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault, had been smoking marijuana and had been drinking to excess and may have committed the acts on a dare. He told a psychologist he "wasn't in the right head space," the court heard.
The court was also told Joseph suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and may be bipolar.
Provincial court judge Michael Brecknell called the offences "very troubling" and reluctantly agreed to a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels.
If not for a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision that joint submission scan be overruled only if there is a "good overriding reason," Brecknell said he would have sentenced Joseph to a further 150 days. But he agreed with three years probation, noting it is the maximum he can give.
Brecknell told Joseph that the woman he targeted at CNC felt violated, had trouble sleeping and was distant from her spouse out of embarrassment.
Joseph had accosted the woman after asking her for directions to a class. She now feels reluctant to help students out of fear she might be attacked once again, Brecknell said, reading from her victim impact statement.
"So, you frightened this woman considerably, sir," Brecknell told Joseph.
Conditions of his probation include a curfew, orders to stay away from the three victims as well CNC and the motel and to provide samples for drug and alcohol testing on demand.
He must also take steps to deal with any mental health issues he may have and if he declines treatment or medication, he must inform his probation officer.
Joseph's name will be on the national sex offender registry for life.
