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Abstract: Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence
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R. v. Simpson, 2015 NWTSC 45 S-1-CR-2-15-000024 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES IN THE MATTER OF: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN - v - BRUNO SIMPSON __________________________________________________________ Transcript of the Reasons for Sentence delivered by The Honourable Justice K. Shaner, sitting in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories, on the 1st day of September, 2015. __________________________________________________________ APPEARANCES: Ms. J. Scott: Counsel for the Crown Mr. T. Bock: Counsel for the Accused (Charge under s. 348(1)(b) of the Criminal Code of Canada) No information shall be published in any document or broadcast or transmitted in any way which could identify the victim or a witness in these proceedings pursuant to s. 486.4 of the Criminal Code Official Court Reporters 1 THE COURT: Mr. Bruno Simpson entered a 2 guilty plea to a charge of break and entering 3 with the intent to commit the indictable offence 4 of sexual assault on the victim contrary to 5 Section 348(1)(b) of the Criminal Code. 6 I have had an opportunity to consider your 7 submissions, counsel, as well as the facts that 8 are agreed upon, the pre-sentence report of March 9 26th, 2014, and the Victim Impact Statements, as 10 well as Mr. Simpson's criminal record and the 11 previous Victim Impact Statement from the 12 previous proceedings. So I will give my decision 13 on sentence and the reasons for it now. 14 Counsel made a joint submission for three 15 years' custody and, from this, there would be 16 deducted credit for pre-sentence custody of nine 17 months, or 274 days, leaving a period of two 18 years and three months to be served. 19 Although this is a penitentiary term 20 sentence, counsel indicated that it is 21 anticipated Mr. Simpson will serve his sentence 22 here in the Northwest Territories at the North 23 Slave Correctional Centre, where he has been 24 incarcerated since December 2nd of 2014, and 25 arrangements have been made by the Crown for 26 Mr. Simpson to take sex offender and substance 27 abuse programming at NSCC during the term of Official Court Reporters 1 1 custody that I am going to impose. 2 For reasons that I am going to provide 3 presently, I find the sentence that is proposed 4 jointly by counsel is within the range for this 5 offence, and taking into account the aggravating 6 and mitigating factors as well as the impact on 7 the victim and her mother and Mr. Simpson's own 8 personal circumstances, it is appropriate and it 9 is the sentence that should be imposed. 10 The sentence of three years' custody will 11 achieve the primary objectives of denunciation 12 and deterrence while at the same time promoting 13 rehabilitation and recognition of the systemic 14 factors which diminish, somewhat, moral 15 blameworthiness on the part of this offender. 16 Throughout these reasons I will be referring 17 to the victim as "the victim" rather than by her 18 name or by her initials as there is a publication 19 ban respecting information which would identify 20 her. 21 A statement of agreed facts, which has been 22 marked as Exhibit S1, was read into the record. 23 I am not going to repeat those facts verbatim 24 here, but I will summarize them so that there is 25 some context to these reasons. 26 On the evening of December 1st, 2014, the 27 victim, who was 13 years old at the time, was Official Court Reporters 2 1 sleeping in the bedroom of her home in a small 2 community in the Northwest Territories. She 3 awoke to find Mr. Simpson in her bedroom. She 4 moved to the corner of her bed, under the covers, 5 and told Mr. Simpson to leave. He asked her why 6 and then proceeded to get on her bed and he tried 7 to get on top of her. The victim pushed him 8 away, telling him again to leave. He did not. 9 He kept asking, "Why?" During the time he was on 10 the bed, he touched the victim's legs. 11 Having heard her daughter screaming for 12 Mr. Simpson to leave, the victim's mother entered 13 the room. She found Mr. Simpson who had hidden 14 himself in the closet. She screamed at him to 15 leave at which point he ran down the hallway and 16 left the residence. 17 At the time of this offence, Mr. Simpson was 18 on probation in connection with a youth 19 conviction sustained in March 2014 for sexual 20 assault against the same victim. He had also 21 received a custodial sentence for that offence. 22 Both the victim and her mother prepared and 23 filed Victim Impact Statements. The victim asked 24 that her statement not be read aloud in court; 25 however, it is clear that it had a tremendous 26 impact on her and, given the circumstances, that 27 is not at all surprising. When something like Official Court Reporters 3 1 this occurs in the sanctity of one's home, in 2 one's own bedroom, it is bound to have a 3 significant effect on the victim's ability to 4 feel secure in an environment which ought to be 5 safe. 6 The victim also expressed concern for the 7 impact that this has had on her grandmother and 8 her mother. She describes her mother as crying 9 when relaying the incident to the police, and she 10 does not want either of them to worry anymore. 11 That is a tremendous burden for a child to bear. 12 Finally, she indicated that she feels safer 13 since Mr. Simpson has been held in custody. 14 The victim's mother did request that her 15 statement be read aloud in court. It is Exhibit 16 S6, and pursuant to her request, I am going to 17 read that statement aloud. 18 The victim's mother states the following in 19 her Victim Impact Statement: 20 Since the incident, I have been feeling scared for my daughter as 21 well as for this community and our children. I have cried just about 22 every night, cried in fear and more paranoid on whether if the 23 door are locked, looking through every window making sure no one is 24 peeking through the windows. Just about every night I've heard my 25 youngest daughter crying and hearing her made me cry with pain. 26 I felt lost and miserable, but more I felt useless for my little 27 girl. Watching her in pain, hiding it away from me and the Official Court Reporters 4 1 help we provided her with by talking to friends, services from 2 people that come to Wekweeti, yet for many months since her 1st 3 attack, she's been eating more and gaining so much weight. I've been 4 feeling pain and confusion about how this could have all happened 5 to my innocent baby girl. I am still in pain and will always feel 6 it. 7 Exhibit S2 is a pre-sentence report which 8 was prepared for the Territorial Court of the 9 Northwest Territories respecting the other 10 conviction. This, combined with Mr. Simpson's 11 lawyer's submissions, provided me with valuable 12 information about him. 13 Mr. Simpson is an aboriginal man who is now 14 20 years old. He was 19 when this offence 15 occurred. He has a Grade 10 education. 16 He grew up in an environment where he was 17 able to learn traditional skills and knowledge 18 through spending time with his father and 19 grandfather on the land. Unfortunately, he also 20 grew up in a home where he was subject to 21 physical abuse at the hands of his father who 22 abused alcohol. He also witnessed physical abuse 23 perpetrated on his mother by his father. 24 He was sexually assaulted by an older female 25 when he was five years old and he was sexually 26 assaulted by a man when he was 13. Contributing 27 to the trauma of this last event was the fact Official Court Reporters 5 1 that he was held for a period of time and, 2 further, that he was unable to talk about it with 3 anyone and obtain counselling and support for it 4 until very recently. Indeed, at the time that 5 the pre-sentence report was written, he would 6 only describe it as a traumatic event and he 7 would not disclose the details of it. At the 8 same time, he felt that the whole community knew 9 about it. 10 It was also reported that in 2013 11 Mr. Simpson was admitted to hospital for 12 assessment following an episode of auditory 13 hallucinations. At the time, he was diagnosed 14 with drug-induced psychosis and situational 15 crisis. He had, prior to that, been using 16 marijuana, which his lawyer indicates he started 17 using around 16 years of age. He was prescribed 18 medication for the hallucinations. He is not 19 currently on medication. 20 As noted earlier, Mr. Simpson has been at 21 North Slave Correctional Centre since December 22 2nd, 2014, and, while there, the Court heard that 23 he has used his time in a manner which supports 24 his stated desire to live a productive and 25 crime-free life. His lawyer indicated 26 Mr. Simpson has participated in counselling. He 27 watches movies with lessons about religion and Official Court Reporters 6 1 how to cope with life's problems. He has 2 established positive relationships, something he 3 has had difficulty doing historically. He works 4 in the kitchen at NSCC beginning at 5 a.m. each 5 day, which gives his day structure. His lawyer 6 says this is something of which he is proud, and 7 he has applied for another job as a gym cleaner. 8 Mr. Simpson hopes to obtain a high school 9 education and possibly pursue post-secondary 10 studies. 11 Mr. Simpson has a criminal record. As a 12 youth, he sustained convictions for sexual 13 assault and sexual interference against two young 14 girls, one of whom, as mentioned, is the same 15 victim as in this case. He also has convictions 16 for breaching conditions, one of which was 17 sustained as an adult. 18 When asked if he would like to make 19 submissions on his own behalf, Mr. Simpson was 20 firm in accepting responsibility for his crime 21 and he appeared genuinely remorseful. He also 22 confirmed that he is eager to make positive 23 changes in his life. 24 The Crown cited a number of aggravating 25 circumstances in this case. The victim was 13 26 years old. This is deemed by the Criminal Code 27 to be an aggravating factor. This was the second Official Court Reporters 7 1 time that Mr. Simpson had sexual assaulted her 2 and he was on probation at the time with a 3 condition that he have no contact with her. Even 4 more troubling is that what seems to have played 5 out is a scenario over which the victim had 6 expressed concern in the Victim Impact Statement 7 she prepared for the last incident. In that 8 statement, she indicated she had nightmares about 9 someone being in her dark room, watching her 10 sleep. She worried Mr. Simpson was in the 11 hallway or elsewhere in her house. And as the 12 Crown pointed out, Mr. Simpson would have been 13 present in court when this Victim Impact 14 Statement was described or read out. At the very 15 least, this is a very disturbing factor. 16 As noted, Mr. Simpson has a criminal record, 17 including convictions for sexual offences. 18 Admittedly, the record is not a long one; 19 however, it is significant that he has, by the 20 age 20, incurred convictions for now four sexual 21 offences as well as those for breaching court 22 orders. 23 The circumstances under which this offence 24 was committed are deemed by the Criminal Code, 25 and are, in fact, aggravating. It happened in 26 the victim's bedroom in her home. She was in bed 27 and her mother was home. Official Court Reporters 8 1 There are a number of mitigating factors in 2 this case as well. Mr. Simpson never denied the 3 charge and he took full responsibility for his 4 actions. He cooperated with the police. The 5 guilty plea came at a very early time. No 6 preliminary hearing was necessary, sparing the 7 victim and her family the necessity of having to 8 testify in court. The manner in which 9 Mr. Simpson has used his time at the North Slave 10 Correctional Centre to date as well as his stated 11 willingness and apparent concrete plan to take 12 sex offender and substance abuse programming once 13 it is available at North Slave Correctional 14 Centre are also mitigating. They demonstrate a 15 commitment by Mr. Simpson to do what he can to 16 contribute to his own rehabilitation, and given 17 his age and his limited criminal record, there is 18 great hope for rehabilitation in this case. 19 Gladue factors are also relevant here, and I 20 have taken them into account in determining that 21 the three-year sentence suggested by the Crown 22 and the defence is appropriate. 23 Mr. Simpson, like many young aboriginal men 24 who appear in this court, was a victim of the 25 dysfunction of his family and some members of his 26 community. He was victimized at a vulnerable and 27 impressionable time in his life by his father, by Official Court Reporters 9 1 his sister's friend, and by a man who came to the 2 community for work. While on probation, he lived 3 in his home community. He was isolated 4 geographically, and no doubt financially, from 5 the kinds of resources and infrastructure needed 6 to help overcome and deal with the result of that 7 dysfunction and, more importantly, to get on the 8 road to rehabilitation, resources that might be 9 found in a larger place or which could be 10 accessed by someone of greater financial means. 11 These factors, in my view, diminish to some 12 degree Mr. Simpson's moral blameworthiness. They 13 do not, however, remove it altogether, nor do 14 they operate to justify a non-custodial sentence 15 or a sentence less than what is proposed. 16 The appropriate starting point for this 17 offence is three years and that was confirmed by 18 the Alberta Court of Appeal in R. v. T.L.G., 2006 19 ABCA 313. But for the mitigating circumstances 20 and the Gladue factors, a much longer sentence 21 might be justified, something in the 22 neighbourhood of four and a half to five years. 23 This is a serious crime with significant effects 24 for a young victim who has suffered not once but 25 twice from Mr. Simpson's actions. It is the type 26 of crime that absolutely cries out for a 27 custodial penalty of some significance in order Official Court Reporters 10 1 to achieve the objectives of denunciation and 2 deterrence, and indeed this is reflected in the 3 fact that the maximum penalty for this offence is 4 life in prison. 5 Mr. Simpson, please stand. Bruno Simpson, I 6 hereby sentence you to a term of three years' 7 imprisonment for the crime of break and enter 8 with intent to commit the indictable offence of 9 sexual assault. You can sit down. 10 From the three years, as I said, will be 11 deducted 274 days representing credit for time 12 spent in remand awaiting this sentencing hearing. 13 This is calculated on the basis of 183 days at a 14 credit rate of 1.5 days for each day spent in 15 pre-sentence custody. 16 I will also impose an order that you must 17 provide a sample of your bodily fluids for DNA 18 analysis, and there will be a lifetime SOIRA 19 order. There will also be a firearms prohibition 20 which will remain in effect for ten years. 21 Counsel is there anything else? 22 MS. SCOTT: No, Your Honour. 23 THE COURT: Mr. Bock? 24 MR. BOCK: No, Your Honour. 25 THE COURT: Thank you. 26 Mr. Simpson, work hard, take the programming 27 that is offered to you in prison. You need to Official Court Reporters 11 1 get back on track, because, if you do not, there 2 can be very, very serious and much more egregious 3 consequences for you in the future. 4 Thank you, counsel. 5 ................................. 6 7 8 Certified Pursuant to Rule 723 of the Rules of Court 9 10 11 Jane Romanowich, CSR(A) 12 Court Reporter 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Official Court Reporters 12
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