The mother of a Huntsville sex assailant has apologized to the victim of the violent attack which took place on a Huntsville walking trail last fall.

“I find myself in a difficult position between the community and my son,” said the woman, speaking at a hearing in Bracebridge court April 24, where the Crown was arguing for the accused, who was 17 at the time of the offence, to be sentenced as an adult. “I apologize for the actions of my son. . . . I love my son, but do not condone his actions. He was not brought up in a violent home or a home with drugs or excess alcohol.”

She said her son, who she admits has a serious drug and alcohol problem, is very intelligent and a perfectionist.

“He has been very manipulative since a wee child,” she said. “He tells you what you want to hear.”

She fears that if he does not get the help he needs, he will continue down “this path of destruction.”

A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the victim, and because the accused was a youth offender at the time of the attack, a publication ban also protects his identity.

Assistant Crown attorney Lyndsay Jeanes has indicated that if the defendant is sentenced as an adult, the Crown will apply to have the publication ban protecting the attacker’s identity revoked.

The attacker’s mother, who has two other children, aged 11 and 16, said she wants them to grow up in a safe community, but at the same time is concerned about the effect on them if the publication ban on her son’s name is lifted.

“Kids are crueler than adults,” she said. “But if Your Honour chooses to (remove the publication ban) I’m OK with that.”

Earlier in the week, Justice George Beatty ruled the beating, robbery and rape of the woman to be a serious, violent offence. This opened the way for the Crown to submit an application for the defendant to be sentenced as an adult.

Jeanes told the court that as a youth, the maximum sentence for the defendant would be two years custody and one year of supervised release.

“There are very few cases to have a youthful offender sentenced as an adult and those that are deal with murder and manslaughter,” she said of her search of case law to find precedents.

“The accused pleaded guilty to what can only be described as an unprovoked and terrifying crime on a vulnerable victim,” she said. “The victim was walking her dog, which anyone does without giving much thought. This will haunt her the rest of her life.”

Jeanes described the accused as talking about the details of the attack with no more emotion than when he was talking about how many kiwis he bought during his escape from custody after a Bracebridge court appearance.

“If this crime had been committed 36 hours later (when the accused turned 18) we wouldn’t be having this discussion,” she said.

The accused was serving a 12-month jail sentence in the community when he committed the assault.

“On the day of the attack he kept his appointment with his probation officer, saying everything was fine and he was having a good day,” said Jeanes.

Defence lawyer Peter Ward, however, countered, saying the law is complex and a tad convoluted.

“There is absolutely nothing in the Youth Criminal Justice Act that says if you commit a violent offence you move to an adult sentence,” said Ward. “(The accused) is, in fact, in law, a young person by definition. He has served 157 days in pre-sentence custody.”

Determined not to make an error because of the complexity of the case, Justice Beatty reserved judgment until June 9 in Huntsville.