A B.C. Supreme Court Justice wants more information before deciding how much of a sentence to hand down to a man convicted of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.
Justice Ron Tindale was scheduled to sentence Karl Xavier Casimer, 37, on Friday morning, but said he wanted specifics on Casimer's personal circumstances.
A sentencing of this matter is complicated, said Tindale, noting the identifiable range of the penalty for this type of offense is between two and four years of jail time.
"Mr. Casimer, through counsel, is asking me to go significantly below that range (90 days in jail, served intermittently)," said Tindale. "To do that, I need to have exceptional circumstances, which may be the case here."
As was heard at a sentencing hearing on Thursday, Casimer is just shy of five years of sobriety and is now full-time father to three children. Though he said he doesn't remember what occurred that night nearly eight years ago, he takes responsibility for the incident.
Tindale said he wasn't in a position to consider the the lighter sentence without more evidence as to what exactly Casimer's role consists of in the daily care of his three children, what resources would be available to take his place if he was in jail full-time, as well as medical information on his youngest child.
"I don't know if that's going to change significantly where I'm considering the sentence to be," said Tindale, "but I think Mr. Casimer should at least be entitled to provide some of that information."
In 2007, Casimer, then 30 years old, attended 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, 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.
A new date for sentencing will be fixed on Sept. 14.
-- with files from Mark Nielsen
