A Kamloops man who raped his 13-year-old cousin at a family gathering will undergo an in-custody psychiatric assessment before he is sentenced, a judge has ruled.
The 31-year-old man cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban put in place to protect the identity of the victim.
He stood trial earlier this year and was convicted in B.C. Supreme Court on charges of sexual interference of a person under 16, sexual assault, exposing genitals to a person under 16 and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.
Court heard the man abused and raped his cousin during visits at their grandparents’ house in 2015 and 2016. He was in his early 20s at the time.
The man has significant mental-health challenges, including a schizophrenia diagnosis for which he was hospitalized shortly after the incidents involving his cousin.
During a brief hearing Friday in B.C. Supreme Court, the man was ordered to be transported from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre to Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam to undergo an in-custody assessment.
Depending on the findings of the assessment, the man could be found not criminally responsible by way of a mental disorder.
Lawyers will return to court on Dec. 6 to update the judge on the status of the man’s assessment.
