Former Edmonton nightclub employee sentenced to 8 years for sex assaults

An Edmonton courtroom erupted in fury and chaos Friday afternoon as aformer Edmonton nightclub promoter convicted of sexually assaulting five women wassentenced to eight years in prison.

Matthew McKnightwas accused of sexually assaulting 13 women ranging in age from 17 to 22 between 2010 and 2016. He pleaded not guilty, but in January, a jury convicted him on five counts.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Doreen Sulymaprovided detailed reasons for her sentencing decisions on each of the five counts. She did not find believe that McKnight, 33, had drugged any of his victims. In three of the five sexual assaults, she found that no use of a condom was an aggravating factor.

One of the victims showed bruising after the sexual assault and Sulymaadded time, noting "it reflects a violence in the exchange."

In total, she assessed 16.5 years for the five sexual assault convictions, but concluded that number was far too high, especially for a first-time offender.

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"A sentence of 16.5 years simply exceeds what would be just and appropriate," she said Friday, as she reduced the sentence by approximately 40 per cent to 10years.

Judge lowers sentence further

A large portion of the seven-day sentencing hearing was devoted to the assault McKnight suffered at the hands of another prisoner at the Edmonton Remand Centre while he was briefly in custody in October 2016.

"The attack in the remand centre was visibly vicious," Sulyma said.

She likenedthe response by correctional officers who rushed into the room where McKnight had been assaulted as "similar but worse to rubberneckers on the highway during an accident."

Sulymadescribed the officers as almost gang-like and suggested there was a cover-up when the officers tried to justify their actions in handcuffing McKnight.

The judge lowered the sentence by one year due to the assault.

Finally, Sulyma noted McKnighthas spent the past four years free on bail without any problems.

"I am persuaded he has excellent chances to rehabilitate," Sulyma said as she lowered his sentence one last time to eight years.

At that point, the courtroom erupted.

'How dare you'

Sixof McKnight's accusers held hands and walkedin front of the gallery in a show of protest overthe sentence. Some wore red and black masks emblazoned with a hand print.

One womanran toward the defence table and pushed a monitor to the floor.

Another yelled out, "Are you crazy? Get me out of here!"

Several members in the gallery began hurling accusations and expletives at the judge.

Sheriffs surrounded McKnight inthe prisoners box whileSulymabriefly left the courtroom.

"How dare you," one woman said as she was escorted out of the courtroom by sheriffs.

Outside court, one of the complainants whose identity isprotected under a publication banexpressed her disappointment with the sentence. McKnight was acquitted of sexually assaulting her when she was 17.

"I just had higher expectations and then hearing that eight years and hearing it go lower and lower just made things worse," she said. "It was just disgusting how she looked at these five cases like they're individual cases."

The woman's sister was in court for support. She was equally upset about the sentence imposed.

"I felt like she really sympathized with him," she said. "For her to say that he's not a serial predator? That's absolutely false."

'You don't sentence to appease the masses'

Outside court, defence lawyer Dino Bottos said he feels "very good" about the sentence, which landed within the five to nineyear range he had proposed to the court.

"Justice Sulyma applied the law to the letter," Bottos said. "To the letter means that you apply it principally. You don't sentence to appease the masses and the bloodthirsty. The masses and the bloodthirsty will never be satisfied."

Bottos criticized the lengthy sentence proposed by the Crown.

"The Crown asking for 22 and a half years created false expectations for victims and complainants that this guy was going to go away for over 20 years," Bottos said. "The more extreme your submissions in court, the less likely you have credibility with the court."

During the trial,Crown prosecutor Mark Huyser-Wierengasaid thatMcKnight used eachof his victims"as an object for his own sexual pleasure" and deserveda harsh sanction.

He has 30days to decide if the sentence would be appealed and indicated it's likely he will make that recommendation.

While speaking to the media,Huyser-Wierengaposed a rhetorical question.

"Is this sentence of eight years for somebody who's appropriately, legally classified as a serial rapist, is that adequate?"

McKnight was immediately taken into custody. He may be eligible to apply for release in two and a half years after serving one-third of his sentence.