FILE PHOTO

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - A Kamloops man will spend one month on house arrest after pleading guilty to punching a sex worker in the face behind a Kamloops bar.

Clarence Samuel Norris, 37, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing bodily harm. He appeared in Kamloops Provincial Court today, June 11, where the events of Feb. 23, 2017 were read into the record.

Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan said Norris, his brother and a friend went out drinking the night of Feb. 22, and in the early morning hours of the next day, they went to a drinking establishment downtown.

While Norris was standing outside a Victoria Street establishment, Flanagan said Norris was approached by the victim in the case. 

"There is a brief discussion that includes a suggestion, I believe by (the victim) or a question, is he 'looking for a good time'," Flanagan said of the encounter.

It led to a discussion about exchanging money for sexual services, Flanagan said, and Norris and the victim agreed on $40 for oral sex. The pair walked into the alley behind Victoria Street, and found a stairwell where the victim performed oral sex on Norris for a "very brief period" of time.

Flanagan said the victim stopped almost immediately, telling Norris she had just started a new relationship and didn't want to be doing stuff like this.

“Mr. Norris does not in any way attempt to... force her into continuing oral sex," Flanagan said.

Norris did ask for the money back, but the victim wouldn't give it to him. Flanagan said the pair began a "hand battle" which consisted of slapping or swatting at each other in the stairwell. At one point, the victim hit Norris in the groin and he became upset.

Norris told police after his arrest what happened next.

"He does describe then punching (the victim) and he tells police this was with a closed fit. He punches her twice," Flanagan said.

Norris thought he had hit the top of her head, but actually struck her around her eyes and nose, which caused her to bleed from those areas. He told police he then "snapped out of it" and asked himself what he was doing. During this time, the victim ran away.

Norris walked back out onto Victoria Street and met with his brother and friend. His brother had seen the bloodied woman run past him on the street and was concerned about her.

It wasn't until the trio got into a cab and headed to a different restaurant that Norris's brother confronted him about the woman. It led to a heated discussion which ended in the group being asked to leave the restaurant.

After the assault, the victim called police who immediately began investigating, Flanagan said, and a few days later the cab company was able to give police contact information for Norris's friend.

On March 1, Norris called police and told them he knew they were in touch with his friend, and told them he was the one they needed to speak with. He agreed to meet police and provide a statement on March 3.

Shortly before Norris's scheduled interview, his brother arrived at the police station to provide a statement, and told police Norris was the person responsible for the assault.

Just half an hour before Norris's interview, police arrived at his home and arrested him before taking him to the detachment, where he gave a statement to police.

"A recurring theme throughout the statement is that Mr. Norris is ashamed of what he’s done, he’s expressing remorse for what he’s done," Flanagan said.

Court heard Norris has been struggling with depression since separating from his wife in 2014, and hasn't gotten the help he needs. At the time of the incident, witnesses said Norris was very drunk, his brother adding he was "100 per cent shocked" by what had happened.

Flanagan and defence lawyer Ken Walker entered a joint submission for a three-month conditional sentence order followed by 12 months of probation, which provincial court Judge Roy Dickey agreed to. Norris will spend the first month of the order on house arrest, and the following two months he will need to abide by a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Walker told the court Norris has also offered to write an apology letter to the victim, along with providing $200 to her.

"Alcohol and depression don’t go very well together," Walker said. "He very much regrets his actions taken that day... What you have before the court is a person who is ordinarily a good man but did something bad that night.”

Walker acknowledged that street workers are a vulnerable population, and they deserve protection.

Before being sentenced, Dickey offered Norris the opportunity to address the court, where he apologized for his actions and emphasized how he wanted to receive real counselling for his issues.

“I'd like you to know how sorry I really am for this. It's so out of character," Norris said. "It’s the opposite of who I am as a person, I believe. It was terrible.”

Norris must abstain from alcohol during his conditional sentence order, and is to have no contact with the victim other than for the purposes of the apology letter.

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