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If convicted sex offender Israel Barrionuevo hadn’t impregnated his cognitively challenged adult victim, he likely never would have been brought to justice, a judge noted Wednesday.
But because one of Barrionuevo’s four acts of non-consensual sex with the 40-year-old victim resulted in her pregnancy, he ended up being convicted by a Calgary jury of sexual assault causing bodily harm.
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Justice Glenda Campbell sentenced Barrionuevo, 35, to 7-1/2 years in a federal penitentiary for forcing himself on his victim over a three-month period in 2020.
A Court of King’s Bench jury convicted Barrionuevo in March, rejecting his claims the sexual contact was simply an extramarital affair between consenting adults.
Campbell agreed with Crown prosecutor Pam McCluskey that there were multiple aggravating factors in Barrionuevo’s crime, but stopped short of handing the Argentina native the 10- to 12-year sentence she proposed.
Instead, the judge handed Barrionuevo a punishment slightly more than the five to seven years suggested by defence lawyer Rebecca Snukal.
Snukal had argued factors such as her client’s immigration consequences and the fact he will never see the child he fathered during his crime should be considered in his favour.
But Campbell said the fact Barrionuevo, a permanent resident, faces deportation, wasn’t a significant factor in coming to a just sentence and “Mr. Barrionuevo has no relationship with the child that is a product of his sexual assault.”
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She noted the crime has had a devastating effect on the victim, who only learned she was pregnant when her mother insisted she have a pregnancy test during her third trimester.
As a result the woman had the baby through a Caesarean section and put it up for adoption.
Campbell said the fact the victim was “child-like” made his crime similar to a sexual offence against a vulnerable minor.
The victim is a special needs adult who reads at the level of a Grade 1 student, her mother told court.
“Sentences for sexual offences against children, and by extension against disabled adults with serious physical and/or intellectual deficits, must increase,” Campbell said.
The judge said the fact Barrionuevo didn’t use a condom during three of the four sexual attacks was an aggravating factor beyond the risk of pregnancy.
And she said the sentence had to be significant enough to deter other potential offenders, but stopped short of imposing an exemplary sentence sought by McCluskey.
“The sentence must send a message of condemnation and discourage other people from engaging in the same behaviour,” Campbell said.
KMartin@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @KMartinCourts
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