Violent parkade attack nets teen a 3-year sentence and rare intensive rehab

A teenage boy who attacked and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl in a downtown Winnipeg parkade last April was handed a three-year sentence on Thursday.

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The teen, who was also 15 at the time,pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault after beating the girl,who suffered injuries so severe she was not expected to live, andnow has permanent brain damage.

The two teens were both in the care of Child and Family Services at the time and were placed in a downtown hotel the night of the assault. The incident helped push the province to stop placing foster kids in hotel rooms.

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Provincial Court Judge Wanda Garreck sentenced the boy to 2years in custody followed by six months of conditional supervision in the community. The sentence is in addition to the 15 months he's already served at the Manitoba Youth Centre.

Courtheard that after an evening of drinking, the teens went to the City Place parkade on HargraveStreet where they hadconsensual sex. The boythen became angry with himself for cheating on his girlfriend and took itout on the victim. He continued to beat her even after she became unconscious, court heard.

The boy later tried to cover up the attack and flagged down police,court heard. He told officers he had found the injured girl there, but was charged after police questioned himfurther.

The teen, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), has been diagnosed with intellectual disability disorder and has a mild form of fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as conduct and attachment disorders.

The Crown asked for three years in custody, the maximum allowed under the YCJA, with the possibility ofreview after ayear. The defense argued for one year of secure custody followed by one year of open custody, during whichthe boy would be able to have temporary absences, and one year of conditional supervision.

Both the Crown and defense agreed that an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) sentence would be appropriate in this case.

Intensive rehabilitativesentences are used in cases of violent offences where the perpetrator suffers from a mental illness or disorder, or a psychological or emotional disturbance. Sentences involving IRCS have been handed out only a handful of times since the YCJA was passed. Since 2003,Manitoba has had 22 IRCS sentences. Only ten are curently active.

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The judge said that the teen's sentence needed to be a balance of consequences as well as rehabilitation.

Garrecktold theteen that the attack was not provokedand that it left the girl with ongoing trauma and life-altering injuries.

"You committed [the assault] in rage of your own circumstance," she saidwhen sentencing the teen.

A number of factors were taken into consideration including the boy's background, his emotional and cognitive deficits, the involvement of alcohol, and that the attack did not appear to be premeditated.

Doctors who assessed the teen told the court that he was "early in his emotion and social development" and that his rehabilitation would be "a long slow process."

The judge said she felt the IRCS sentence would provide the best chance for rehabilitation and his reintegration into the community.

The teen was also compelled to provide a DNA sample for the court's database, as well as agree to a lifetime weapons ban.