Matt Goerzen - Brandon Sun

New sexual assault charges have been levelled against a 19-year-old Brandon man who is scheduled to appear in court this week for a similar offence.

A 20-year-old woman was taken to the Brandon hospital last weekend following a sexual assault in her residence in the 1200-block of Rosser Avenue.

Brandon police say the suspect, who was known to the victim, broke into her home early Saturday morning.

“This was a full blown sexual assault,” Brandon Police Service spokesman Sgt. Rick Semler said yesterday. “She contacted police right away.”

The suspect was arrested at his residence shortly after the assault, and charged with sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance, breach of recognizance and breach of probation.

Semler said the suspect was already facing earlier, unrelated sexual assault charges stemming from an Aug. 4 incident. He had been released by the court after his initial arrest.

“He was on a court order as a result of the previous charges,” Semler said. “The circumstances were similar. A break and enter occurred.”

The suspect’s name will not be published in order to protect the identity of the victims. He was remanded in court yesterday to appear on Thursday and remains in police custody.

Domestic violence counsellor Kim Iwasiuk with the Women’s Resource Centre in Brandon said it’s all too common for a suspect charged with sexual assault to re-offend, if given the chance.

“Do men re-offend? Yes,” Iwasiuk said. “Unless there is some intervention. That can include jail time, counselling and supports in the community for them. Those are three really important factors.”

The fact that the suspect was given the chance to commit another sexual offence greatly concerned Iwasiuk, who meets with many women who have been victims of physical and sexual abuse.

“That’s where that intervention comes in. What happened after that first assault?”

Repeat offenses could be prevented if the provincial government would take these kinds of incidents more seriously said Progressive Conservative Justice Critic Gerald Hawranik.

“We need to have more protection for the victim and a little less for the criminal,” Hawranik told the Sun yesterday. “(Manitoba Justice Minister Dave Chomiak) has to give Crown attorneys more direction.”

In the case of a serious criminal offense, Hawranik said Crown attorney’s should be directed to oppose bail for a suspect, even in the event of a first offense. And if bail has been granted, prosecutors should automatically appeal the suspect’s release.

“While the appeal continues, that person would remain in custody. We would then have a second chance to make representation to keep that person in jail, and perhaps this wouldn’t happen.”

Such a directive from the government would not interfere in the provincial judicial system Hawranik said. It would merely give the system some much needed consistency.

“Sometimes Crown attorneys make decisions based on expediency. They have a tremendous amount of criminal cases. They really need policy direction to make sure there’s consistency.”

About 51 per cent of Canadian women report experiencing at least one incident of physical violence since the age of 16, according to Statistics Canada.