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February 03, 2017 - 9:00 PM
CONTENT ADVISORY
KAMLOOPS - Kyle Mayes walked into court a free man, but left in handcuffs after a Kamloops Supreme Court judge sentenced him to 18 months in prison.
Mayes, 25, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of sexual interference of a person under 16. It means he, directly or indirectly, sexually touched a teenage girl. He's been on bail since his arrest.
The girl cannot be identified due to a court ordered publication ban. Court heard today, Feb. 3, that Mayes met the 15-year-old high school student over Facebook.
Crown prosecutor Iain Currie says the girl's friend introduced her to Mayes around November or December of 2014. The two exchanged messages over Facebook for a period of time before meeting in person in January 2015.
Currie asked for a two-year prison sentence for Mayes, while defence lawyer Sheldon Tate sought a 14 to 18-month sentence.
Court heard Mayes, who was 23 years old at the time, paid for the girl's taxi to his house. The pair was originally set to go hiking, Tate said, but Mayes told the girl he was sick.
Once she got to his home, the two went down to the basement to watch a movie, but it wasn't long before Mayes took it to the next level.
Within minutes, Currie said, Mayes invited the girl onto his bed so they could watch a movie. He asked to kiss her, so he could teach her how to kiss.
Currie says the 15-year-old felt pressured to say yes to Mayes, so she obliged. But he quickly took his pants and underwear off and asked her if they could have sex and she said no.
“A woman or a girl need not say no for consent to be withheld," Currie said. "But in this case, she did say no and Mr. Mayes continued with the assault.”
Mayes touched the teenage girl's vagina, flipped her over and tried to have anal intercourse with her. Court heard he didn't succeed in the intercourse, but the girl had pain in the area for days after the incident.
“Taking a teenage girl, flipping her over physically and attempting to put his penis inside her anus is a significant sexual assault," Currie said.
Her mother provided a victim impact statement to the court in August 2015, detailing how her once honour student daughter had turned into someone quite the opposite.
“The assault was her first sexual experience," her mother's statement read. "She is broken. She is in crisis.”
After the incident the girl quit her part-time job, lost interest in all of the activities she once partook in and has turned to drugs and cigarettes to cope.
Her mother's statement says she has overdosed on mushrooms.
But in recent months, she has been doing better. Her mother says she has sought counselling and is no longer doing drugs.
"Her mother's statement speaks volumes," Supreme Court judge Stephen Kelleher said. “The protection of children is a basic value of Canadian society.”
Kelleher asked Mayes to stand before sentencing him.
“Your selfish and unlawful actions have caused a young woman a great deal of harm," he said.
Mayes, who until now had no criminal record, will spend 18 months in prison followed by two years on probation. He will need to register as a sex offender for the next 20 years.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017