WINNIPEG — Lawyers are set to argue whether a man who has admitted to sexually assaulting and battering a Winnipeg woman and a teenage girl should be sentenced as an adult or a youth.
The man, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of aggravated sexual assault in November 2014.
A four-day hearing is scheduled for next month on whether the man will face a maximum penalty of life in prison as an adult or a three-year maximum as a youth.
A second man involved in the attacks, 22-year-old Justin Hudson, pleaded guilty to the same charges and the Crown is seeking a life sentence.
In the first attack, a 16-year-old girl was repeatedly beaten, stomped on, sexually assaulted and ended up in the frigid Assiniboine River.
Hours later, the pair seriously injured a woman when they attacked her in a similar fashion.
Hudson's sentencing hearing earlier this week heard from both victims who, in written impact statements, said the attacks continue to affect them deeply.
"When I regained consciousness, my entire body was screaming with pain. More pain than I have ever known or thought possible," wrote the first victim, who became a leading advocate for a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women.
"I have scars on most of my limbs, everyday reminders of that night. It's hard for me to find the words to explain the impact that the assault has had on my life. I feel sad. Angry. Confused."
The second victim, who suffered severe injuries to her face and skull, wrote that the attack has left her frightened to this day.
"I became judgmental and wary of people in general. I am uncomfortable in large groups and get anxiety when I have to go out of the house," she wrote.
"Now my face has changed. I can't move my bottom lip and there is nerve damage."
