EDITOR’S NOTE: This article contains details that may be upsetting to some readers
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A “Neanderthal” who violently raped an area woman he knew by knocking on her door and “pouncing” was severely reprimanded in Ontario Court this fall – along with his family.
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Justice Colette Good said 27-year-old Ryan Goulet destroyed the life of his victim in every conceivable way short of killing her and forcing her to endure a series of humilities.
“I liken you to a Neanderthal man who just pounces on women, dragging them off by their hair, kicking and screaming, to have your own way with them despite their protests,” Good said as she sentenced Goulet to prison.
“In addition to the humilities you subjected her to… she was the subject of ridicule by members of your family.”
Good said she refused to accept a letter written by Goulet’s mother that suggested his victim was “a person of loose morals, sexually.”
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“That’s not an uncommon stereotype that it’s (the victim’s) fault,” said the judge.
“(People say victims) were raped because they were sluts. But she was raped because you couldn’t control your sexual urges. She was a sex toy and an object to you and not a human being.”
The judge noted that when the woman found the courage to read her impact statement in open court, Goulet’s family “scowled at her and some of them were rolling their eyes.”
“I’m not here to punish you for your mom’s letter or your family’s responses to this incident. I’m merely highlighting them because this court understands how difficult it is for female victims of sexual violence to even have the courage to report these offenses.”
On the first day of his trial, Goulet pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement for his actions in May of 2021.
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On that day, he knocked on the woman’s door, pushed her against a wall, tore her clothes off and forced oral and vaginal sex while she was screaming and crying.
The woman showered and Goulet raped her a second time with an “increased level of violence”, pulling her hair, banging her head against a couch arm and telling her to act like she didn’t like it because it was a turn-on.
After five hours of abuse, the woman was left with multiple bruises and her life was changed forever.
She told the court she lost her “self-respect, her dignity, her job, her livelihood and, most of all, her positive outlook on humanity.” She moved from her residence and got rid of items that were part of the attack.
“You stole a piece of me that I can never get back,” she said to Goulet in court.
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While Goulet had some positive elements in his favor – a lack of a record, his youth and his guilty pleas – Good indicated she was disturbed by a positive psychological assessment on him where he clearly misled the interviewer by providing an “extremely distorted version of events ” that didn’t match what was agreed to in court.
The judge also dismissed a defense suggestion that Goulet had difficulty “reading social clues.”
“The screaming, the crying, the yelling, (the victim) fighting back… and telling you to get out are not the type of social clues that a college-educated person with above average intelligence could possibly misread, even if struggling with mental health or drug or alcohol use at the time.
“You flat-out didn’t care.”
Several other concerning incidents in Goulet’s life caused the judge to be concerned about his future risk to women.
Good sentenced him to six years in prison, less than 18 days of time already served. Goulet will be on the sexual offenders list for 20 years.
@EXPSGamble
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