'Delusions' blamed in court

WARNING: This story contains details some readers might find disturbing.

A delusional Merritt man who repeatedly sexually assaulted his common-law wife after becoming convinced she had a sex toy hidden inside her body will not spend any further time in prison, a judge has ruled.

The 40-year-old man cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban put in place to protect the identity of the victim, his former partner.

The man was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court last week in Kamloops after earlier pleading guilty to charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement, as well as two counts of breach of bail.

Court heard the man’s behaviour became increasingly erratic and paranoid in 2020, during which time he was using alcohol and cocaine regularly.

In April of 2020, he began to accuse his partner of secretly keeping a vibrator. When he couldn’t find it, he began to aggressively search her body.

He digitally penetrated her on four separate occasions between April of 2020 and July of 2021, each time searching for the imaginary sex toy. In one case, he pried her legs open and used a flashlight, court heard, shouting, “It’s in there, I know it’s in there.”

The man later referred to the supposed sex toy as an “implanted vibrator” when talking to police. He told officers his partner could control the device using her phone.

'Delusional thinking'

The Crown sought a prison sentence as long as three years, while the man's defence lawyer suggested house arrest.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan ultimately sided with the man’s lawyer, sentencing him to a conditional sentence order of two years less a day to be followed by three years of probation.

Donegan pointed to the man’s mental state. He was undiagnosed bipolar at the time. An expert witness also testified that the offending would not have happened had the man not been using cocaine.

“Unlike so many other sexual offenders, he was not motivated by his own need for sexual gratification. He was motivated by delusional beliefs stemming from his mental illness,” Donegan said.

“It was this delusional thinking that caused him to offend. If not for his cocaine use, he would not have offended.”

While on house arrest, the man will be subject to electronic monitoring and required to undergo mandatory inpatient treatment.

The man, who had no prior criminal record, had been in custody. He was released to begin serving his sentence in the community.