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
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
'Furiosa,' 'Garfield' lead slowest Memorial Day box office in decades
Movie theaters are looking more and more like a wasteland this summer. Neither "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" nor "The Garfield Movie" could save Memorial Day weekend, which is cruising towards a two-decade low.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Man throws flaming liquid on New York City subway, burns fellow rider
A man set a cup of liquid on fire and tossed it at fellow subway rider in New York City, setting the victim's shirt ablaze and injuring him.
At least 9 dead in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after severe weather roars across region
Powerful storms killed at least nine people and left a wide trail of destruction Sunday across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas after obliterating homes and destroying a truck stop where drivers took shelter during the latest deadly weather to strike the central U.S.
As Canada warms, infectious disease risks spread north
Cases of Lyme disease have now increased more than 1,000 per cent in a decade as the warming climate pushes the boundaries of a range of pathogens and risk factors northward.