A Vancouver man has pleaded guilty to assault in connection with a sexual encounter on the back stairs of a popular Vancouver strip club.
Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Andrea Brownstone heard Tuesday the 46-year-old man and a woman had been having sex in a staircase behind the No5 Orange strip club in the city’s Downtown Eastside on Aug. 17.
Glacier Media has chosen not to name the man as he continues to get help for mental health issues such as schizophrenia.
The court heard the woman had got up to leave but the man prevented her.
Crown prosecutor Kevin Masse told the judge a witness heard the woman shouting “no, no, no.”
Masse said the woman’s top got pulled down in an ensuing struggle.
The man was initially charged with sexual assault.
Defence lawyer Samantha Purton told the judge the incident was completely out of character for her client, who has significant mental health issues.
She said the British Columbia Institute of Technology engineering graduate has a treatment-resistant schizophrenia but continues to get mental health assistance and is supported by his family.
Purton said her client was deeply remorseful for his actions.
Brownstone sentenced the man to a conditional discharge, 12-months’ probation and 20 hours of community work service.
He was also given a no-contact order for the victim.
