A former Hamilton police officer will not go to jail for sexually assaulting the woman he was mentoring as she pursued her own career in policing.
Michael LaCombe, 54, will instead serve 12 months of house arrest followed by 12 months of probation after Justice Cameron Watson found him guilty of two counts of sexual assault in January, following a trial.
Watson sentenced LaCombe on Monday at the Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Ont., describing his crimes and the aftermath as “a spectacular and cataclysmic fall from grace” in his written decision.
“His life has taken an irreparable downward spiral. He is no longer the man he once was,” Watson wrote.
Watson also described how LaCombe’s conduct “devastated” the victim, who has felt isolated and suffers from panic attacks, among other impacts, in recent years.
“His life has taken an irreparable downward spiral. He is no longer the man he once was,” Watson wrote.
That is not a valid reason to allow a rapist to escape jail time.
ACAB
Sexual assault, yes. Rape, no.
He removed her shirt and bra and kissed her without consent. No intercourse (including the standard variants thereof) occurred. She protested, and he drove her home.
That’s basic sexual assault based on the legal definitions (there are two higher definitions for using weapons or causing bodily harm) and there is no legal minimum for basic sexual assault (of an adult)
The pig should be in jail, and you shouldn’t be making excuses for him.
I’m not making excuses, I’m being specific and correct. Rape (which isn’t defined in the Canadian criminal code) has a very clear definition understood by the public (and defined in law elsewhere) as requiring penetration of some sort.
You’re actually defaming him (and therefore guilty of libel under Canadian Criminal law) for accusing him of something which is not true and could harm his reputation further.
In your opinion, how many years of jail should be given to someone who kisses another person without their consent? Or does that part of this situation not warrant jail time? Should there be a mandatory minimum for any form of sexual assault? How many years then for the more serious offence of removing someone’s shirt and bra without their consent?
I’m being specific and correct.
You’re being pedantic. Caring more about the rules of language than the fact a woman’s life has been decimated by a rapey cop doesn’t help your argument.
The law is very pedantic.
and I’m not making an argument, I’m just clarifying terminology.
And placing your perception of language over and above that of a woman whose life has been devastated by a fucking cop.
Maybe you could place what happened as more important than the specific language used.
I think you’re missing the point. The law needs to be specific. It describes levels of criminal activity and in this case details how the law differentiates between what the law calls “rape” and “sexual assault”.
Sure, from our perspective that girl got raped, and that’s how I would describe it. But the law doesn’t.
