A 41-year-old Charlottetown man was sentenced Friday in P.E.I. Supreme Court to serve six years in a federal correctional facility for sexual assault with a weapon.
The sentence, which was subsequently reduced to five years three months for time already served, was imposed in the case of John Williston, a homeless man with a long history of criminal activity.
Williston, who was on probation for robbery when he committed the offence before the court, was convicted at trial of sexually assaulting a 19year-old man while armed with what the victim believed was a knife. The offence took place in the first week of Se p tembe r during the early morning hours as the victim was on his way home.
Williston accosted the victim and asked him for change. The victim said he had no change but Williston encouraged him to sit down for a moment.
When the victim stood up some change fell out of his pocket and Williston's demeanor changed dramatically, becoming very aggressive. He grabbed the victim by the arm and forced him to walk towards some bushes near St. Jean's Elementary School.
Once there Williston told the victim to pull his pants down and he performed oral sex on him. He then told the victim to perform oral sex on him. Fearing for his life the victim did what he was told.
Williston then tried to initiate anal sex but failure to achieve an erection made that impossible.
The accused then suggested they go and get some alcohol. It was then that the victim was able to break free of Williston, make good his escape and contact police.
The victim rose in court to describe the impact the assault has had on his life. He said the only physical sign of the assault was a bruise on his left side.
Psychologically however the damage is far greater. The victim said he is terrified all the time. He said the incident has left him with trust issues and changed the way he sees his home town.
"I have lost faith in people," the victim said. "He took all of that from me."
The victim said he has had a lot of trouble dealing with this incident.
"I can still smell him," he said.
He said he's been known to stand in the shower for an hour, scrubbing himself, trying to remove Williston's smell from his memory, often without success.
Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Taylor described the sexual assault on this young man as a horrifying crime, one which had caused serious psychological damage. He said Williston had committed an evil, predatory assault on someone who had in fact been kind to him.
The accused, he noted, has not accepted responsibility for his actions and has shown neither remorse or empathy for his young victim.
Speaking for himself, Williston did offer something resembling an apology but Taylor said it was too little, too late.
Taylor said he agreed with the Crown that the accused must be separated from society. He said there is little if any chance of rehabilitating Williston or of even making him realize the harm he has caused.
Crown counsel Valerie Moore told the court homelessness and addictions are the two biggest issues in Williston's life and he doesn't seem to see either of those issues as a problem.
Williston has more than 60 prior convictions and owes more than $25,000 in fines and restitution. He has paid little, if anything, on any of them. His record includes multiple convictions for assault, plus convictions for robbery and a series of other offences.
