David Wesley Bobbitt is led away from Penticton Courthouse this morning following a decision that declared him a dangerous offender.

(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

PENTICTON - The man charged in the vicious rape and assault on a Penticton woman in 2011 likely won't be a threat to the public again.

David Wesley Bobbitt was declared a dangerous offender and sentenced to an indeterminate term in jail by Justice Peter Rogers in Penticton Supreme court this morning, March 13.

“He is the very definition of psychopath. He is completely unmotivated to make changes. I have no hesitation in declaring him a very dangerous individual,” Rogers said as Bobbitt sat motionless with his head bowed through most of the proceedings.

Rogers reviewed the circumstances surrounding the July 2011 rape of the young woman and another sexual assault that took place in February 2007. He also reviewed notes from a psychiatric evaluation of Bobbitt in making his decision, noting the report’s confirmation of Bobbitt as “compulsive with poor behavioural controls and psychopathic traits.”

The report also indicated Bobbitt would likely be resistant to psychological remedies, as he saw no fault in his own personality, and had “absolved himself of all blame” regarding the rape and assault.

“I accept as fact the psychiatric report,” Rogers said. “I accept as fact Mr. Bobbitt is uninterested in telling the truth, has no empathy for his victims and does not accept responsibility for what he has done.”

In applying the dangerous offender label, Rogers noted the two sexual assaults had similarities, in that Bobbitt gave no warning to his victims of impending attack, was in an environment he controlled, threatened the lives of those peripheral to the victims, physically overwhelmed them and demonstrated repetitive aggressive behaviour.

“It’s difficult to think of these events without feeling the gorge rise and revulsion,” said Judge Rogers, noting the brutal nature of the 2011 assault was enough to convict Bobbitt of dangerous offender status in itself.

Bobbitt was sentenced to an indeterminate period of incarceration for aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault and assault with a weapon. He was also sentenced to five years each for two counts of unlawful confinement and two years for each of two counts of uttering threats, to run concurrently.

A number of conditions are also attached to Bobbitt’s sentence, including a prohibition from owning firearms, providing a DNA sample, registering as a sexual offender and a prohibition from communication with anyone filing a victim impact statement.

Friends and family of the victims who witnessed the judgement were emotional in the courthouse hallway following the decision, one family member heard to declare: “It doesn’t get much better.”

For more stories related to the Bobbitt trial, click here.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

—  Story updated with additional detail at 2:27 p.m.

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