(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

ARMSTRONG - An Armstrong man was sentenced in Kelowna Supreme Court this week to six years in jail and designated a long-term offender.

Joseph Vance Caron — who pinned a woman against a church wall in Armstrong, sexually assaulted her and threatened to strangle her if she resisted in 2014 — was sentenced May 8 as part of a dangerous offender hearing.

According to Crown spokesperson Dan McLaughlin, Caron was given six years and three months in jail, but he’ll get credit for time already served.

“After receiving credit for his time spent in custody he will serve a further two years,” McLaughlin said in a written statement.  

Caron was also declared a Long-Term Offender and will be subject to a Long-Term Supervision Order for six years. The order will commence upon the completion of his jail sentence.

Caron also received a lifetime prohibition from the possession of firearms and was placed on the sex offender registry for 20 years, McLaughlin says.

Caron has a long criminal record made up of some 18 convictions including theft, common assault and sexual assault.

According to a Supreme Court judgement from 2014, Caron was convicted of sexual assault, unlawful confinement and uttering threats in relation to a 2010 offence. Court documents describe how Caron offered two women a ride, and drove off with one of them after her friend got out to use the washroom at 7-Eleven. Caron drove his victim to the Alexis Park Church, told her to take her pants off, and proceeded to punch and choke her.

In the Armstrong offence, Caron assaulted a young woman with a mental condition. The woman, who was in her early 20s, had gone out for a walk around 10:30 p.m. and took shelter under the back roof of a church when it started to rain. A man appeared and asked her for a cigarette. Suddenly, the man pinned her against the wall, took her phone away, and told her he was recording it with his phone and that “he wanted her to agree that it was consensual and that she was enjoying it.” Caron’s DNA was found on cigarettes and a beer can collected at the scene.

For more information about the Dangerous and Long Term Offender process, click here. 

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