This is pulled from a story of a Windsor, ON businessman who was sentenced to 18 years for deliberate infection of women with HIV, a type of sexual assault. Embedded in this are incidents of more "traditional" date rape and drug rapes.
DOUG SCHMIDT, Canwest News Service; Windsor Star
Describing the crimes as "despicable and selfish," a judge sentenced Windsor businessman Carl Leone yesterday to 18 years in prison for engaging in unprotected sex without advising his partners that he was HIV-positive.
"The spread of HIV in the community must be stopped," Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn said during his 90-minute ruling.
Leone, 32, pleaded guilty a year ago to 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault. Five of those victims have since tested positive for the virus that can lead to AIDS, and the judge said each of them now has a shorter life expectancy.
Quinn dismissed the Crown's application to have Leone declared either a dangerous or long-term offender, saying he did not represent a substantial risk to reoffend.
But he said the court had to send a strong message of deterrence, and he sentenced Leone to 15 consecutive terms ranging from two to five years each and totalling 49 years. Quinn said the justice system, however, required that he not impose an unduly harsh sentence that violates the "totality principal," and he adjusted the prison term downward to 18 years.
"I'm happy for the girls," Pat Keane, the Windsor police lead detective in the case, said of the ruling. Other detectives present for the sentencing expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
"I'm just proud of all the women -- they did it for the community," Keane added.
"I hope it sends a message," said Windsor-Essex's medical officer of health, Dr. Allen Heimann, who sat through much of the court proceedings since Leone's arrest in June 2004.
"Obviously, it's a significant amount of years, but it's in the ballpark," defence lawyer Andrew Bradie told reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm very pleased he was not declared a dangerous or long-term offender ... you can get to rather staggering numbers (of years in prison)," he said.
Bradie added his client's chances of getting parole are greatly improved without such a
designation.
Leone will be eligible to apply to the National Parole Board for full parole after serving a third, or six years, of his sentence, and there are provisions for day parole before that.
Neither Crown attorney Nat Bernardon nor the assistant Crown attorneys who argued the case wished to comment on yesterday's sentencing.
In the case of A.P., Leone was repeatedly asked to wear a condom but refused, stating he was okay. As with a number of his partners, Leone engaged in unprotected anal sex. The judge said A.P. contracted HIV, must take medication for the rest of what will probably be a shortened life and is "not able to have her own family."
Leone repeatedly "threatened the health and possible life of a person ... for five to 10 minutes of sexual gratification," said Quinn, who described it as "despicable and selfish conduct." The judge described a pattern of criminal behaviour spanning seven years from 1997 when Leone was first diagnosed with HIV and warned he had to wear a condom and advise his partners of his status.
Dangerous offenders are sentenced to indefinite terms in prison, with petitions to get the designation removed possible after 7 years. Infamous dangerous offenders legally designated in Canada include Paul Bernardo. Long term offenders get a 10 year strict probaiton tacked onto the end of their sentences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment