(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
April 22, 2024 - 5:07 PM
Troy Schank was already in custody for rape when he pleaded guilty in a Kamloops courtroom to two more sexual assaults.
The 37-year-old's time in prison doubled to five years April 22 for the two sexual assaults. In both cases, his victims were drunk and passed out as he raped them, the court heard.
The first was in June 2018.
The victim read a 20-minute statement aloud in court, detailing her post-traumatic stress and how she's been left to cope.
"My life will never be what it could have been because of your choices," she said. "I am someone's daughter... I hope that knowing what you did to me, how you handled yourself and continue to makes you sick. I hope it keeps you up at night."
Although Schank wasn't physically in the courtroom, he was visible on a TV screen to lawyers and the judge. The victim spoke in front of the screen so she could see Schank as she read her statement to the court and her rapist.
Despite how the legal system might describe her, she said she is a "survivor" and not a "victim."
Schank did not speak to the court, but his lawyer Joe Killoran said Schank is "regretful and sorry for his actions."
On the night of the first rape, the victim was working at a local pub, where she recognized Schank as a regular. They shared drinks after her shift and, when she said she wasn't feeling well and wanted to leave, he got a cab for the two of them, the court heard.
Dozing in and out of consciousness, she didn't know where they went or how she got inside after the cab ride. She awoke to Schank raping her and tried telling him to stop.
She did not remember how she got home. She had a rape kit done the next day and DNA would later match Schank.
The second sexual assault was more than three years later when Schank again met another woman who was working at a local bar. They went for drinks after her shift and later to his house.
Passed out in his basement, she also awoke to Schank raping her.
Killoran said both matters were planned for jury trials, but they were cancelled as Schank decided to plead guilty to both counts of sexual assault.
He had already been sentenced in November to 30 months in custody for a rape in 2021. He met that woman at a friend's house, where the two got to know each other over the course of the evening.
They were drinking and smoking cannabis until they turned on a movie and laid together on the friend's couch.
Like the other two, she awoke to Schank raping her on the couch.
BC Supreme Court Justice Dennis Hori accepted the proposed 30-month sentence on April 22, doubling Schank's time in custody to five years.
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