Two men jailed for ‘barbaric’ Kingsville assault on Indigenous woman

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Describing the assault of a young Indigenous woman in Kingsville as “barbaric and callous cruelty,” a judge in Windsor on Monday sentenced two of the male assailants involved to jail terms.

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While defence lawyers for the two men had argued for conditional sentences to be served from home, Justice Renee Pomerance said that, given the nature of the offence and the disturbing facts involved, jail sentences were a must.

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The crime, she said, “calls for a strong denunciatory message.”

Danny Wolters, 35, was handed a two-year sentence for his guilty plea to assault with a weapon in the April 19, 2020, offence.

According to facts read out in Superior Court of Justice, Wolters had used a knife, heated by a blowtorch, to burn the teenager five times in the buttocks and twice on a breast while she was held down by others.

The complainant, who cannot be identified by court order, was 17 years old at the time. According to an agreed statement of facts, she had taken a cab from Leamington to the Kingsville home of one of the men to drink alcohol, consume marijuana and “hang out.”

She engaged in sex with more than one of the four men who’d eventually be charged by OPP. The defence argued it was consensual, but the court determined it was criminal given her state of impairment.

Jacob Menard, 25, was also sentenced to two years less a day after pleading guilty to sexual assault. Pomerance said a “highly aggravating factor” was a video taken of the sexual assault which eventually came to the attention of police.

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The Crown had sought five-year penitentiary terms for each of the men, who originally faced many more criminal charges, including ‘gang sexual assault’ (sex with others present); forcible confinement; administer/stupefying drug; and making/publishing child porn.

A third man, Rinaldo Longo, now 25, had also earlier pleaded guilty to sexual assault, but the court was advised this week that he is seeking to strike that plea and instead take the matter to trial. His case is in assignment court in January, where he faces eight of the original criminal counts, including gang sexual assault; assault with a weapon; forcible confinement; ‘chokes, suffocates or strangle;’ and publishing child porn.

A fourth man who was at the Kingsville home on that date had his charges withdrawn on Monday.

Based on the facts presented in the agreed statement, the sentencing judge said a more serious aggravated assault charge could have been justified, but Pomerance described it as a “complicated” case with “ambiguities” as to the facts.

The defence had argued all the actions taken had been consensual. When it comes to inflicting bodily harm — the defence said the knife was being heated to prepare hash — the judge said the law does not allow for consent.

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Wolters, a single father and first-time offender, and Menard were also each banned from owning any weapons for 10 years and ordered to submit a blood sample for a police DNA databank.

Menard, with a prior criminal record for assault and assault with a weapon convictions, is also being placed on Canada’s sex offender registry for 20 years.

Already in custody, Menard, whom the judge said had a “generally positive” pre-sentence report presented to court, was given 348 days credit for 232 “real days” spent in pre-sentence custody, leaving a balance of 381 days left to serve.

At the start of Monday’s court proceedings, lawyers in the case had sought a publication ban to prevent news media from reporting on any evidence heard, with the prosecutor arguing the same facts would be presented in Longo’s future trial.

“It would be dangerous to put these people’s names in the paper,” said assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes, adding it could potentially “contaminate” a prospective jury pool. But Holmes told the court the Crown would oppose any such trial going before a jury, and the Crown is even opposing Longo’s application to strike his earlier plea.

Justice Pomerance spoke out against a publication ban, saying there was only the “potential” of the matter going before a jury, and she cited the “constitutionally protected” right of the media to report open courtroom proceedings.

Holmes and the two lawyers representing Wolters and Menard declined comment to the Star following Monday’s court sentencings.

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