Three years in sexual assault case

A Yorkton man will be going to jail as a result of a 2016 sexual assault.

Kenneth Hasper, 31, was found guilty of sexual assault after an incident on Jun. 23, 2016. Hasper was found guilty of sexually assaulting his sister-in-law after an evening of drinking, as she was passed out in her bedroom.

The prosecution in the case argued for a four year period of incarceration in the incident. Prosecutor Andrew Wyatt argued that sexual assault on sleeping women is a serious problem, and a longer sentence was appropriate as a denunciation and deterrent in order to prevent others from committing the same crime.

The defence argued for a period of incarceration of two years, followed by two years of probation. Defense attorney David Rusnak argued that there was little chance of Hasper being before the court again, and a period of incarceration in a federal facility would allow him to access programming to help him with issues before his release.

The judge in the case noted that in Saskatchewan, the starting point for sentences in sexual assault is three years, with deviations from that sentence based on the circumstances of each case. Saying that “actions such as those of Mr. Hasper are a scourge of our society. He also noted something from the victim impact statement, where the victim stated that she began and ended every day at the scene of the crime.

Mitigating factors for Hasper were a lack of a criminal record, and he followed conditions on his release.

The final sentence for Hasper was three years of incarceration. He must also provide a sample of DNA, he will have a ten year weapons prohibition, and he will be placed on the sex offender registry for twenty years.