St. Catharines Standard e-edition

Man to be sentenced in fall for violent sexual assault

Random attack on senior took place in St. Catharines in 2020

ALISON LANGLEY Alison Langley is a St. Catharinesbased reporter for the Niagara Falls Review. Reach her via email: alison.langley@niagaradailies.com

For more than 20 years, the woman cherished the frequent walks she took along the trails and pathways of the Niagara Escarpment in south St. Catharines.

“It gave me peace, joy and comfort,” she 75-year-old recalled.

In recent years, the local senior found solace in her leisurely strolls as she mourned the loss of her husband and her mother.

She always felt safe traversing the trails, and she would often come across fellow walkers and hikers.

That’s why she wasn’t startled when she crossed paths with 29-year-old Jacob Clarke in the area of Lockhart Drive on the afternoon of June 18, 2020.

What happened next was a nightmare.

Clarke grabbed the elderly woman’s arm and dragged her into a wooded area in the Hydro Hill area near Brock University.

“I yelled, ‘You don’t want to do this, I’m 75 years old,’” the woman wrote in a victim impact statement submitted in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines Wednesday.

The offender dragged her “like a sack of potatoes” over branches, rocks and poison ivy on the escarpment floor.

Once hidden from view, the woman was violently sexually assaulted.

He covered her face and mouth when she cried for help. He threatened to shoot her if she didn’t comply.

Her assailant then fled and she was found by a passerby and rushed to hospital.

The victim sustained multiple gouges and scratches on her hands, arms and legs. Her back and neck were bruised. A laceration to the back of her head required staples.

Her jaw was temporarily misaligned which made eating painful and her ribs were bruised which made breathing difficult.

While her physical injuries have healed, the emotional scars are far more prevalent.

“I have been robbed of my dignity, independence, my joy of life and nature, especially the escarpment,” she wrote.

She has been unable to resume her treasured nature walks.

“Outside I am nervous, on guard, looking over my shoulder, and suspicious. This is not how I envisioned my twilight years.”

Clarke had pleaded not guilty to several charges including sexual assault causing bodily harm stemming from the attack, but he did not dispute the facts submitted by the Crown as he had no recollection of the attack.

Court was told the offender was under the influence of drugs at the time and has an “absence of recollection” of what happened.

The Crown suggested the defendant was “feigning” symptoms of memory impairment in an attempt to minimize his moral blameworthiness.

A psychological report described the offender as an intelligent individual with a “mixed profile characterized by features of anti-social, borderline and narcissistic personality disorders,” and is of high risk to reoffend without supervision and rehabilitation.

The Crown is seeking a custodial sentence of six years.

“This was random, it was the boogeyman, it was the type of thing you read about and hope will never happen to you or anybody,” said assistant Crown attorney Todd Morris.

“The sentence has to send a message to the public that those that do such a thing will be punished. To not do so would cause the public to lose confidence in the justice system.”

Defence lawyer Sara Ramalho said her client, who had no prior criminal record, is being truthful when he says he is unable to remember what happened.

“He is adamant that he does not remember what happened with (the victim). He is adamant that he was extremely high on drugs at the time.”

Sentencing will continue in November.

LOCAL

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2021-09-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stcatharinesstandard.pressreader.com/article/281552294003664

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