小蓝视频’s Court of Appeal has increased a man's 18-month conditional sentence and 12-month probation period for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman to 28 months in jail.
“I agree with the Crown that . . . an 18-month conditional sentence with 12 months’ probation not only reflects an error in principle, but is demonstrably unfit,” Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten said.
Writing for the unanimous three-judge panel in a May 31 decision, DeWitt-Van Oosten said Farhad Maslehati, then 60, was found guilty of sexual assault after a trial in 小蓝视频 Supreme Court and sentenced Jan. 10, 2024.
The offence occurred on July 27, 2020, the judge said.
Maslehati and the victim had known each other for more than 20 years.
“The victim considered him a close friend and they regularly spent time together,” DeWitt-Van Oosten said.
The judge said the victim invited Maslehati to her apartment.
“She suffers from epilepsy and chronic pain,” DeWitt-Van Oosten said. “She wanted to use marihuana to see if it would help but did not want to do it alone. She felt more comfortable being with someone she trusted.”
Maslehati arrived with beer. The victim drank beer and smoked marihuana with Maslehati, the court heard.
“She became incapacitated,” the judge said.
Then, there was sexual contact, some of which was caught somehow on the victim’s phone.
The woman said “no” and “don’t” in Farsi, a language both understood, and tried to push Maslehati away.
DeWitt-Van Oosten said the trial judge found that the victim was in and out of consciousness during the sexual encounter.
“She did not consent to any sexual touching,” DeWitt-Van Oosten said. “The respondent knew the victim was unconscious, or at the very least, he was reckless as to whether she had the capacity to consent during portions of the time he was touching her or performing oral sex.”
