A second teen charged in a horrendous assault against another youth in Corner Brook last September has been handed two months of probation.
The 14-year-old girl had pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a weapon and Judge Wayne Gorman decided on a sentence earlier this week after a sentencing hearing was conducted last Friday.
The teenager was among a group of young people who lured a 12-year-old girl to an abandoned building near their school and carried out a terrifying attack on her.
In November, Gorman sentenced a 14-year-old boy who took part in assaulting and threatening the 12-year-old to 10 months of secure custody and supervision.
The assault, which the court heard was carried out because the group felt the victim had caused them to be banned from a local grocery store, began when the boy applied a choke hold on the victim that rendered her unconscious.
When she came to, the teenage girl began choking her. When the victim managed to escape, the group forced her into a cooler as the 14-year-old girl pressed a knife against the victim’s chest.
The girl was unable to get out of the cooler and was let out only after she began to cry while trapped inside.
The assault was not over, though. The girl was forced into a corner and had kitty litter thrown on her.
The 14-year-old girl approached her from behind, put the knife to her throat and told the victim the abandoned building was a good place to kill someone.
The victim was then forced to her knees and kicked in the stomach.
On their way back to school, the boy told the victim he would kill her if she told anyone about the attack on her.
While he gave the boy a secure custody sentence, Gorman said the circumstances of the girl involved in the attack were different and warranted a less severe sentence.
In his written decision on sentencing the boy in November, Gorman expressed serious concerns about what psychological and psychiatric reports done on the boy prior to his sentencing were indicating. The judge stated that, without a secure custodial sentence, the boy was likely on a path of regular and escalating criminal activity that could put the public at risk.
While the victim in this case did not sustain any serious physical injuries and there was no victim impact statement filed, Gorman said the attack will likely cause her lasting and substantial psychological harm.
“A lack of such harm seems highly unlikely, if not fanciful,” the judge wrote in his decision on the teenage girl’s case.
Gorman could have imposed a custodial sentence on the girl, given the serious nature of the incident, but he opted not to because of her prospects for rehabilitation. He felt two years of probation was a more appropriate sentence, considering her young age, lack of a prior criminal record and no illustrated pattern of violent behavior or failure to comply with court orders.
Gorman agreed with the girl’s legal counsel that this was an isolated incident for her and she did not constitute a danger to the general public.
“I am satisfied that such a sentence is best suited to promote (the girl’s) rehabilitation and is in harmony with the Youth Criminal Justice Act’s principles and purpose,” wrote Gorman.
In addition to being prohibited from having any contact with the victim, other than through a letter of apology approved by her youth court worker, she is also not allowed to attend the same school as the victim.
The teenager is also ordered to have no contact with any of the other people involved in the group assault, is subject to a weapons prohibition for two years and must provide authorities with a sample of her DNA.
