2024-01-25 17:17:32
A chef guilty of sexually assaulting a sleeping college student learned the hard way that blaming the victim and describing his crime as “innocuous” was not the best way to avoid prison.
• Read also: He sexually assaults a drunk woman: a Montreal chef hopes to get away with community work
• Read also: No, he didn’t want to help the girl he attacked
“He didn’t do himself any favors at all [en témoignant]it was nonsense, he said a lot of things without saying anything,” commented Judge Salvatore Mascia, this Thursday at the Montreal courthouse, just before sentencing Vincenzo Mirra to a year of incarceration .
Mirra, a chef from the metropolis, thus failed in his attempt to receive house arrest for his sexual assault committed in 2016 on a drunk and vulnerable young woman.
False “Good Samaritan”
It was because at the time, he had randomly encountered the victim whom he knew a little. The young woman, who was completely drunk, had lost her keys, so she could not return home. Saying she wanted to help her, Mirra invited her to spend the night at his house.
“He presented himself as a good Samaritan to the rescue of a young woman without resources,” explained the magistrate.
However, when the victim woke up, the accused was on top of her, with his pants down. In panic, the young woman the age of the accused’s daughter pushed him away before storming off.
“I had my human dignity stolen, I cried curled up on myself, hyperventilating, trembling, screaming for what seemed like an eternity,” the young woman commented at court.
Guilty of sexual assault, Mirra, however, seems to have certain deficiencies in her understanding of the notion of consent. This is because according to him, it was the victim who acted like a “temptress”, and that he was the real victim.
Vincenzo Mirra, guilty of sexual assault on a drunk young woman whom he had pretended to help, during his visit to the Montreal courthouse in June 2023. MICHAËL NGUYEN/LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI Michaël Nguyen / JdeM
Not “trivial”
Then, to a probation officer, he touted his family values, saying he didn’t like women “with more pronounced curves.” He then criticized the delays in the case, even though he was the one who caused them, while calling the sexual assault “innocuous.”
“He was about to penetrate a sleeping woman, we have a victim in a very vulnerable state, he abused her trust… Do I really have to explain that this is serious?” the judge said.
As for Mirra’s request for leniency because of the delays, the judge replied that the answer was “obvious.”
“No,” the judge said simply.
Thus, Mirra was denied any sentence to be served in the comfort of her home. Instead, he will have to get used to the austerity of a cell, where he will have to stay for a year. And upon his release, he will have to respect a two-year probation, during which he will be prohibited from communicating with the victim.
The latter, who was not in court, had indicated that she was impatiently awaiting the end of the proceedings in order to be able to “move forward”.
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