Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
March 29, 2019 - 3:00 PM
KAMLOOPS — An international student from Bangladesh who attended Thompson Rivers University was sentenced to two years in jail following his conviction on one count of sexual assault.
Joyonto Joy, 22, was sentenced today in Kamloops court, March 29, by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Dev Dley for an assault that took place almost two years ago when he was 20. He will also have to register as a sexual offender for 20 years.
In August 2017, Joy, his roommate and a young woman, who cannot be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban, were all drinking together.
“All of them were intoxicated,” Dley said, adding the victim was significantly intoxicated.
Court heard the victim has no memory of when the sexual assault started, but has a clear memory that at some point she withdrew her consent by pushing Joy as hard as she could.
“[The woman] was alone in the presence of two young males, she described both males touching her, following her from room to room before the sexual assault by Mr. Joy,” Dley said.
When the woman pushed Joy, he reacted by putting his hand over her mouth and nose. Dley says this was an aggravating factor by Joy as an attempt to prevent the victim from crying out for help.
Joy, who was studying in Canada on a student visa, will face deportation, Dley said. It's also likely he will be restricted from other countries as a result of his conviction.
Joy had no previous criminal history prior to this conviction. He came to Canada from Bangladesh to study a four-year business administration program. As a result of his criminal court proceedings, his lawyer Matt Ford says his client found the program overwhelming and switched to a two-year program and was recently able to obtain his diploma in 2018.
Joy is currently employed by McDonald’s and volunteers at the university at the campus radio station.
Ford says this incident was an isolated event in his client’s life.
Defence counsel had asked for a prison sentence of one year.
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