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Abstract: Transcript of the Oral Reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Kochon, 2010 NWTSC 24 S-1-CR-2008-000101 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - V - GREGORY MARK KOCHON _________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Oral Reasons for Sentence by The Honourable Justice J. E. Richard, sitting in Norman Wells, in the Northwest Territories, on the 12th day of March, A.D., 2010. _________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Mr. J. MacFarlane: Counsel for the Crown Ms. C. Wawzonek: Counsel for the Defence ------------------------------------------ Charges under s. 348(1)(b) & 271 Criminal Code of Canada Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: The offender, Gregory Mark 2 Kochon, is a 23-year-old aboriginal man from 3 Colville Lake who has been living here in Norman 4 Wells since 2004. Yesterday a jury found him 5 guilty of a very serious crime, that is, breaking 6 and entering into a residence here in Norman 7 Wells at 4:00 in the morning and committing 8 therein a sexual assault contrary to Section 9 348(1)(b) of the Criminal Code. The maximum 10 sentence for this crime is life imprisonment. 11 Colville Lake is a small Dene community 12 which still to this day primarily lives the 13 traditional lifestyle of the Dene, and that is 14 focused on the land. This offender was raised 15 there and learned the traditional land skills of 16 the Dene people. The offender did encounter some 17 problems in his upbringing, however, as the Court 18 is told that members of his family suffered from 19 alcohol addiction. 20 The offender decided, at the age of 17, to 21 move to Norman Wells. The Court is told that he 22 has had a common-law spouse for the past five 23 years and that since coming to Norman Wells he 24 has had steady employment. At the time of 25 committing the present offence in August of 2008 26 he had two jobs, one as a bartender in a local 27 bar and the other as a maintenance man with the Official Court Reporters 1 1 local Housing Authority. The offender's formal 2 education ceased halfway through grade 10, but he 3 has expressed an interest in upgrading his 4 education and also entering trades training. 5 Mr. Kochon has accumulated a criminal record 6 since coming to Norman Wells. In particular, on 7 April 24th, 2006, he was convicted of two 8 offences of break and enter with intent, two 9 offences of break and enter and commit, and one 10 offence of take auto without owner's consent. 11 The Court is advised that these prior B & Es were 12 property related. For those five crimes he was 13 sentenced on April 24th, 2006, to nine months 14 imprisonment, and he was also placed on probation 15 for one year. It is not clear from the criminal 16 record whether the one-year probation ran 17 concurrently with the nine-month jail sentence 18 or was in force for one year after the nine-month 19 sentence was served. 20 The only other entry on his criminal record 21 is dated December 22nd, 2009, and it indicates 22 that he was convicted under Section 430(4) for 23 damage to property, and also under Section 145(3) 24 for a breach of recognizance. I am told that 25 these two crimes occurred subsequent to August 26 of 2008, that is subsequent to the date of the 27 crime for which he is to be sentenced today. Official Court Reporters 2 1 Indeed, the breach of recognizance relates to the 2 recognizance document whereby he was on judicial 3 interim release with respect to the present 4 charge. The sentence imposed on December 22nd, 5 2009, was time served, and the record shows that 6 Mr. Kochon had had three and a half months of 7 pre-sentence custody. 8 Since December 22nd, 2009, Mr. Kochon has 9 been remanded in custody while awaiting his trial 10 this week on this present charge, a period of two 11 and a half months, and this is taken into 12 consideration in the determination of sentence. 13 I turn now to the circumstances of the 14 serious crime for which Mr. Kochon is to be 15 sentenced this morning. The victim is a 16 29-year-old woman who is a single parent and who, 17 on the date in question, in August of 2008, was 18 living with her seven-year-old daughter in her 19 residence here in Norman Wells. She did not know 20 the offender well. She was acquainted with him 21 as the bartender at a local bar and also because 22 he was the maintenance person from the Housing 23 Authority who had repaired the screens or windows 24 at her residence earlier in the summer of 2008. 25 On the evening of August 15th the victim was 26 socializing with friends at a bar and at a dance 27 at the community hall and had consumed a fair Official Court Reporters 3 1 amount of alcohol. She returned to her residence 2 in the early morning hours of August 16th, paid 3 her babysitter, and when the babysitter left the 4 victim locked the door to her residence. She 5 then went to sleep in her bed with her 6 seven-year-old daughter sleeping beside her; 7 she was fully clothed. 8 The victim awoke to find that she was naked 9 and that this offender, Gregory Kochon, was on 10 top of her having sex with her. She was 11 understandably startled, scared and confused. 12 She looked beside her and there was her 13 seven-year-old daughter lying beside her, awake 14 and eyes open. She attempted to push the 15 offender off of her and she pleaded with him, 16 saying "please don't do this, my daughter is 17 right there." She asked him to stop, but he did 18 not stop. 19 He picked her up and carried her to another 20 bedroom where he continued the assault. The 21 victim heard her daughter crying out for her. 22 She pushed the offender off of her, ran back to 23 her bedroom to comfort her daughter. The 24 offender followed her back into the victim's 25 bedroom and continued to have forcible 26 intercourse with her. When it was over, and 27 before he left, he told the victim that if she Official Court Reporters 4 1 told anyone he would be back every morning. 2 Later in the morning, when the victim was 3 cleaning herself in the bathroom, she had the 4 painful and humiliating experience of removing a 5 tampon which she had been using at the time of 6 this rape, which had become stuck inside of her 7 and which was difficult to remove. 8 This horrific assault had a devastating 9 impact on the victim. The police officer who 10 interviewed her later that day described her as 11 being extremely upset and shaking uncontrollably. 12 He stated that he had to terminate the taking of 13 a formal statement from her because of her 14 condition. The Court also observed symptoms of 15 her emotional trauma when she was relating the 16 details of the assault during her testimony. 17 In the circumstances of this case it is 18 reasonable to infer that there is a second 19 victim, that is the seven-year-old daughter, who 20 was a witness to her mother being raped in her 21 own bed. Of course, we do not know in any 22 certain way how seriously the little girl was 23 traumatized or to what extent she continues to 24 suffer from such a traumatic event. 25 The offender testified at his trial and told 26 the jury that he went to this woman's home, 27 uninvited, at 4 a.m., that the seven-year-old Official Court Reporters 5 1 girl let him into the house and that he went to 2 the victim's bedroom, and after drinking beer 3 with her and having a conversation with her that 4 the two of them had consensual sex. 5 In a narrative that is not unreasonably 6 described as preposterous, he says that he went 7 to the home of a woman he barely knew, uninvited, 8 at 4:00 in the morning, and had consensual sex 9 with her in the presence of her seven-year-old 10 daughter. The jury, quite understandably, 11 rejected his evidence, and it should come as no 12 surprise to Mr. Kochon that they did not believe 13 him. 14 I mention his evidence here as it indicates 15 that this offender is a man who is not taking 16 responsibility for his criminal behavior of 18 17 months ago. One of the objectives of the 18 sentence to be imposed is to promote a sense of 19 responsibility in the offender. 20 This was a predatory crime. There was 21 premeditation on the part of Gregory Kochon in 22 the commission of this offence, and that 23 distinguishes this sexual assault from many 24 others we see in the Courts which could be 25 described as crimes of opportunity. These are 26 aggravating features of Mr. Kochon's offence, as 27 is the fact that he took advantage of a Official Court Reporters 6 1 vulnerable unconscious woman, asleep in her own 2 bed, in her locked residence, and in the presence 3 of a seven-year-old child. 4 There are no mitigating factors to consider 5 in the determination of sentence in this case. 6 The unlawful behavior of sexually assaulting 7 a vulnerable unconscious woman is all too common 8 in this jurisdiction and has been for 20 years or 9 more. On account of the important sentencing 10 principles of denunciation, deterrence and 11 parity, this is not a time to alter this Court's 12 practice of imposing a meaningful period of 13 incarceration in such cases. 14 It is also a fundamental principle that a 15 sentence must be proportionate to the gravity 16 of the offence and the offender's degree of 17 responsibility for it. This was egregious 18 criminal behavior by Gregory Kochon. In 19 conducting himself as he did he displayed an 20 appalling disregard for the personal integrity 21 and bodily integrity of another human being. The 22 level of his moral culpability or blameworthiness 23 is quite high. 24 I remind myself though that the sentence 25 ought not be so excessive or harsh as to dash any 26 hope for Gregory Kochon's rehabilitation. He is 27 still a young person and he has a long life ahead Official Court Reporters 7 1 of him in which he can be a good person who 2 adheres to the rules of our society and who can 3 contribute to a better life for he and his family 4 and his community. 5 The sentence ought to be such as to assist 6 him in rehabilitating himself into a law-abiding 7 citizen, and in this regard I note Mr. Kochon has 8 indicated a desire to improve his lot in life 9 during his period of incarceration by taking 10 courses to upgrade his education and to 11 participate in the AA program and other programs 12 that are offered within the correctional 13 facilities. It will indeed be up to him to 14 take advantage of those opportunities. 15 I hereby grant the mandatory firearms 16 prohibition order pursuant to Section 109 for a 17 period of ten years following Mr. Kochon's 18 release from imprisonment. Pursuant to Section 19 113 I hereby authorize the registrar of firearms 20 or the chief firearms officer to issue to 21 Mr. Kochon a licence to use firearms for 22 sustenance purposes during the period of the 23 firearms prohibition order. 24 The DNA order sought by the prosecution 25 pursuant to Section 487.051(2) shall issue. 26 Also, I grant the prosecution's application 27 pursuant to Section 490.012(2) for an order Official Court Reporters 8 1 requiring Gregory Kochon, during his lifetime, 2 to comply with the Sex Offender Information 3 Registration Act. 4 In view of the fact that Mr. Kochon has been 5 incarcerated and therefore unemployed for the 6 past several months and that he will be 7 incarcerated for some time, I exempt him from 8 payment of the statutory victim surcharge under 9 Section 737. Please stand, Mr. Kochon. 10 Gregory Mark Kochon, for the crime that you 11 have committed, break enter and commit sexual 12 assault contrary to Section 348(1)(b) of the 13 Criminal Code, it is the sentence of this Court 14 that you be imprisoned for a period of four 15 years. I direct the clerk to endorse the Warrant 16 of Committal with this Court's recommendation 17 that the penitentiary officials allow you to 18 serve your period of incarceration at a 19 correctional facility within the Northwest 20 Territories. You may be seated. 21 Counsel, is there anything else with respect 22 to this case? Mr. MacFarlane? 23 MR. MACFARLANE: No, Your Honour. 24 THE COURT: Ms. Wawzonek? 25 MS. WAWZONEK: No, Sir. 26 THE COURT: Thank you. I want to thank 27 both counsel for their conduct of this difficult Official Court Reporters 9 1 case throughout this week, and I want to thank 2 the court staff for their usual excellent 3 performance of their duties. We will close 4 court. 5 ----------------------------- 6 7 Certified to be a true and accurate transcript, pursuant 8 to Rules 723 and 724 of the Supreme Court Rules. 9 10 _____________________________ 11 Joel Bowker Court Reporter 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 10
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