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Rapist used mouthwash to lure, subdue victim

A 60-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for plying a woman with mouthwash, luring her to a secluded spot and then raping her.
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A 60-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for plying a woman with mouthwash, luring her to a secluded spot and then raping her.

Less credit for time served prior to sentence, Charles Roger West has 3 1/2 years left to serve for the Nov. 22, 2018 attack for which he pleaded guilty to sexual assault causing bodily harm.

In endorsing what was effectively a joint submission from Crown and defence counsels, Provincial Court Judge Michael Brecknell saw a pattern in West's "alcoholism" of befriending people and then attacking them.

West has more than 50 convictions on his criminal record, all of them for offences committed in the last 20 years. Most are for petty thefts and breaches but five are for violent offences, including one in which he choked a woman and tried to put his hand down her pants, the court was told.

Gaps in his convictions appeared to coincide with times when he was not drinking. Brecknell said the pre-sentence report for West indicates the member of the Takla Lake First Nation stays out of trouble when living on the reserve but "alcohol overtakes his life" when in Prince George.

West also appears to have cognitive difficulties although their extent is not known because he refused to participate in a forensic risk assessment.

The court heard that West and the woman knew each other for about eight years through drinking. On the day in question, they met at a bus stop where West invited her to join him on a trip to a local big box store and on the way either "forced or encouraged" her to drink the mouthwash he had.

After shoplifting candy from another nearby store, West convinced the now-intoxicated woman to follow him to a secluded spot. The next thing she remembered was West forcing her onto the ground and then putting his forearm across her neck and his hand over her mouth as she screamed for help.

For an unknown reason, West stopped after five to 10 minutes and she remembered grabbing her handbag, getting on the bus and making her way to the Association Advocating for Women and Children shelter downtown where she reported the incident.

The investigating RCMP officer noticed red marks around her neck and blood on her nose, around her lips and on the inside of her mouth. The woman said West had hit her in the mouth with his forearm.

When he was later apprehended, West admitted to being at the store but denied knowing the woman. He has remained in custody since his arrest and, in February, pleaded guilty to the count.

On Wednesday, West was also sentenced to a concurrent term of 30 days in jail for theft $5,000 or under from an attempted shoplift of about $150 worth of meat in October 2018.

In issuing the terms, Brecknell urged West to take advantage of the help that is offered in the federal penitentiary system for inmates like him.

"Nobody can help you until you're ready to be helped," Brecknell told him.