A Nigerian migrant has been sentenced to over four years in a Canadian prison for sexually assaulting a vulnerable woman in a psychiatric ward.
Owolabi Adejojo, 40, raped the 57-year old patient only one month after he had entered Canada illegally from the United States.
“The court is left completely in the dark about who he is and what his personal circumstances are,” said Dennis Galiatsatos, the Quebec judge presiding over his case.
According to the court, the victim, who was brought to the hospital against her will out of fear that she would harm herself, was violated on three different occasions by Adejojo. The assaults were said to have taken place in February 2018 within two days, while Adejojo was a patient at Notre-Dame hospital alongside the alleged victim.
Adejojo, who was discharged from the ward, was allegedly allowed to remain due to the cold weather before he kissed and penetrated the patient under her hospital gown. Because of her mental situation, she was not able to fight back, but it was noted that she asked him to stop multiple times.
The staff were not even aware of the assaults until a doctor witnessed Adejojo’s third attack, which was happening in a corner of the hospital cafeteria.
In the ruling, the judge claimed that the victim was not able to consent due to her mental condition.
“The accused’s crime ranks sky-high on the repugnance scale. His predatory behaviour was as despicable as possible,” claimed Galiatsatos in his ruling.
While in the United States, Adejojo was charged with assault for attacking two men in Baltimore.
According to the judge, Canadian authorities were not aware of the accused’s crimes.
“I must confess that the lack of detail and information given to the court by the defence about the accused’s personal situation was highly unusual and somewhat unsettling,” said Galiatsatos.
A recent report by True North has shown that migrants crossing the border are subjected to initial security checks which last only two hours before being allowed freely into Canada.
The information, which was shared by migrants staying at the Toronto Plaza Hotel, potentially reveals a security flaw in the vetting system at the unofficial border crossings along the Canada-US border.
