A Yellowknife man who changed his plea mid-trial, just as the woman he sexually assaulted was about to take to the witness stand, was sentenced to two years less a day on Monday.
Forty-nine-year-old Timothy Cook - who worked for RCMP in Fort Good Hope and Inuvik before joining the military in the early 1990s - went to trial late last year after pleading not guilty to one count of sexual assault stemming from an incident at his Yellowknife apartment in 2013.
Cook was charged in March 2017 after a woman said he sexually assaulted her in late 2013. On Oct. 22 of last year, in the middle of his sexual assault trial, Cook changed his plea to guilty.
His victim, who expressed serious reservations about revisiting the night she was assaulted, was spared from having to take the stand -- about five minutes before she was set to do so.
The victim then entered the courtroom, where Cook apologized to her.
In a Yellowknife courtroom on Monday, NWT Supreme Court Justice Andrew Mahar - the presiding justice for the fall trial - gave Cook “full credit” for what he called a sincere and “heartfelt” apology.
By changing his plea, Cook admitted to sexually assaulting the woman while she slept between the evening of Dec. 30 and the morning of Dec. 31, 2013. Cook and the woman, the court heard, were drinking with friends at his apartment before the victim passed out. She awoke to Cook sexually assaulting her, according to an agreed statement of facts. A conviction was formally entered by Justice Mahar on Monday.
Crown prosecutor Blair MacPherson, who along with Cook’s lawyer submitted a joint recommendation of two years less a day followed by one year probation, said the offender committed the “major” sexual assault when the victim was passed out in a “very vulnerable state.” MacPherson said the circumstances of the assault are “all too common” in the territory, calling assaults on sleeping victims a “very serious problem in this jurisdiction.”
“The facts (of the case) are so tragically common,” agreed Justice Mahar.
MacPherson called for the two year sentence - about the “lowest a court can go” for a major sexual assault - after considering Cook’s guilty plea, his remorse and the Gladue factors present in the offender’s life.
Cook, along with his siblings and parents, all attended residential schools, and he witnessed some violence and substance abuse at home. Cook, who began drinking at age 12, has struggled with alcohol addiction throughout his life, the court heard.
Tu Pham, representing Cook on behalf of his lawyer Evan McIntyre, said Cook is motivated to get help and is actively seeking treatment in B.C.
‘I haven’t felt the same since this happened’
In a victim impact statement read in court, the woman said she lived in fear following the assault. Now, she’s angry, she wrote.
“I feel lots of anger and it’s always anger towards men,” the victim wrote.
The woman detailed the lingering effects of the sex assault years after it occurred, writing she now self-medicates with alcohol, often staying in her room - the “safest place.”
“I haven’t felt the same since this happened,” she wrote.
“What causes men to do this at 3 a.m.?” asked MacPherson, revisiting the musings of Justice Louise Charbonneau, who asked a similar question in a previous sex assault case on a sleeping victim.
“It does boggle the mind,” said MacPherson, adding the “question can’t be answered,” because every case is different.
MacPherson emphasized the need to denounced and deter the “all-too-common” type of
offence.
‘Devastating consequences’
Cook, who was supported by his spouse in the Yellowknife courtroom, addressed the court Monday.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” he said. “I just want to put this behind me.”
Justice Mahar, who noted Cook has no recollection of the events due to his high level of intoxication at the time, said the assault was “out of character,” adding Cook has shown “clear remorse.” Mahar weighed his comments with the seriousness of the assault, which he called “deeply intrusive.”
“The victim has suffered devastating consequences,” he said. “These sorts of crimes cause damage that goes well beyond (a physical toll).”
Cook must submit a sample of his DNA, and is required to register as a sex offender. He cannot possess weapons for 10 years following his release, and is barred from contacting the victim.
Justice Mahar will recommend Cook serve his time in Yellowknife, and that he be considered for early release if a residential treatment program is secured.
Cook, who was not in custody, shared a tearful kiss with his wife before being placed in RCMP custody.