In addition to asking for leniency from the court to keep him out of trouble with immigration, a serial sex offender who targeted random women says he should also serve his sentence at home, as a recent change in the law allows. law.
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“The legislator encourages [la prison à domicile]because it promotes recovery, it targets people who deserve a second chance, ”advocated defense lawyer Me Réginal Victorin, this Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse.
Quoting Federal Justice Minister David Lametti, the lawyer flew in favor of his client Sobhi Akra who he says will not have to pay too much for a series of sexual assaults that occurred in October 2017 to November 2018.
Akra, 39, was still operating with the same modus operandi. After choosing a woman at random, he came from behind to grab her and grab the victim’s genitals.
“He attacked eight vulnerable women, including two minors,” recalled Me Carolyne Paquin of the Crown.
Photo courtesy, SPVM
Sobhi Akra
Bill C-5
When arrested and charged, Akra pleaded guilty to five sexual assaults and three attempted sexual assaults.
However, if the Crown claimed 22 months of incarceration and the defense suggested six, legislative changes have changed the situation. Since the recent passage of Bill C-5, community sentencing, also known as house arrest, is once once more available for sexual assault.
In Akra’s case, he was already eligible for house arrest due to technicalities, but according to the defense, the spirit of the bill means that this kind of sentence should no longer be “exceptional”.
“What has changed [pour Akra] it is that the courts are encouraged to grant a reprieve,” pleaded Me Victorin.
The Crown opposes
Unsurprisingly, the Crown strongly objected to Akra getting away with it without going to jail.
“It is essential that Canadians have confidence in their justice system, which is there to protect them,” pleaded Me Paquin, recalling the number of victims.
Thus, she maintained her position that Akra deserves 22 months in prison and 3 years probation “to ensure some control” over the sexual aggressor. And this, even if such a sentence would increase the chances that Akra would then be expelled from the country.
Judge Alexandre St-Onge will render his decision in April.
Since the legislative changes, several defendants have been released from house arrest, including sex offender Jonathan Gravel, as well as a stepmother who beat and starved her husband’s son.
In a recent missive sent to his Canadian counterpart, the Minister of Justice of Quebec had for his part denounced the recent federal law C-5.
