Former Canadian navy officer fined $7K for assault, sexual assault aboard navy sailboat
A retired Canadian navy member has been reprimanded and ordered to pay a fine of $7,000 after repeatedly assaulting and sexually assaulting a young female cadet aboard a navy sailboat in the summer of 2006.
Retired petty officer first class James R. Levesque, 59, was found guilty last May of assault, sexual assault and uttering threats while on a summer sailing of HMCS Oriole, a century-old tall ship the navy uses for training and public outreach excursions.
The victim, who cannot be identified under a court-imposed publication ban, testified at trial that Levesque, then a senior non-commissioned officer, repeatedly groped and physically assaulted her, leaving bruises on her arms, during the ship's journey from southern Vancouver Island to Alaska.
The victim, who was 20 years old and a military college student at the time of the offences, testified that Levesque also threatened to have sex with her and leave further bruising on her body, despite her protests.
The ordeal left the victim with a fear of sailing and significantly altered her career in the navy, she said.
Levesque denied the charges at trial, pleading not guilty to all three offences.
In her sentencing decision Thursday, military judge Cmdr. Sandra Sukstorf said the power imbalance between the victim and Levesque – who was then one of HMCS Oriole's seniormost non-commissioned officers – was one of several aggravating factors she considered in the case.
The judge also told the court that the repetitive and forceful nature of the attacks and their longstanding effects on the victim merited special consideration and denunciation.
However, the judge noted that Levesque, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces from 1983 until his retirement in 2017, has no prior criminal record and is considered a low risk to reoffend.
Levesque will not be required to register as a sex offender, per the judge's decision.
The military prosecutor had asked the court for a minimum sentence of six months imprisonment, while the defence argued the circumstances warranted a reprimand and a fine in the amount of $4,000 to $6,000.
The victim testified at trial that the physical and sexual attacks made her feel "scared and really worthless," and told the court that another senior officer had discouraged her from reporting the incidents to police that summer.
The military court was shown more than 100 photos taken aboard the Oriole in July 2006, many of them depicting an atmosphere of alcohol-fuelled revelry among the ship's predominantly male, 24-person crew.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What weather experts say to expect this summer in Canada
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks mounted raids across Rafah in defiance of the World Court for a second day on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground operation in the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials have warned Israel to avoid.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Five more Ontario school boards join lawsuit against social media platforms
Five additional Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
In bizarre provocation, North Korea flies trash, manure balloons over the South
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.