(GLYNN BROTHEN / iNFOnews.ca)

A Penticton man who violently raped a model the day he met her for a nude photo shoot in July 2017 in Merritt has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Richard Syver Skoyen, 31, had no criminal record before the offence, though he admitted to a psychiatrist he needed ‘rough sex’ and described himself as “almost a sex addict."

The victim, however, a woman from Kamloops, told the court the experience “broke her” and has left her terrified.

It started innocently enough. A photographer who specializes in nude photographs brought them together in Merritt to arrange for a shoot.

Once she was in his car and the photographer was gone, he took her to various locations in Merritt and raped her twice, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan found at trial. Donegan said he “forced her to the ground, pinned her arm behind her back, choked her, called her demeaning and vulgar names, all over her repeated pleas for him to stop and her cries that he was hurting her.”

He threatened her and the more she protested and fought, the more aggressive he got, the victim said. Before he finally took her back to her vehicle, she had a bloody nose and other wounds.

It was noted in the decision that Skoyen was often suspended in school for fighting, and in 2016, prior to the assault, he had completed an anger management course, although the reasons for taking it are unknown. A psychological assessment was done on Skoyen, and showed the he has a possible diagnosis of sexual sadism disorder. The doctor who preformed the evaluation also determined the risk of reoffending was in the low to moderate range.

Skoyen used to be a heavy drinker and used cocaine, ecstasy and crystal meth. He maintained throughout the trial and after that it was consensual.

Donegan was convinced by his efforts to rehabilitate. He said after working on himself, he now cannot have rough sex at all.

“Despite the fact that Mr. Skoyen does not yet seem to understand that a sexual partner can withdraw his or her consent at any time and that the word no actually does mean no, I do see a role for rehabilitation in this case,” Donegan said in the decision. “If he were to engage honestly in the sexual offender counselling that will be made available to him in jail, he is, I think, capable of gaining actual insight into his offending and is capable of rehabilitation.”

In the ruling, the judge noted that Skoyen had no previous criminal history, held employment for the past 13 years, and supports his young twins.

Skoyen will have to give a sample of his DNA, register as a sex offender, and cannot own any guns, ammunition, crossbows or explosive substances for ten years.

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