‘Brutal sexual assault’ of vulnerable woman nets prison time for Brantford man

A 20-year-old man committed a “brutal sexual assault with a weapon on a stranger” last November and was sentenced recently to eight years for his offenses.

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Austin Hearn, now 21, pleaded guilty to sexual assault with a weapon and robbery.

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Hearn went into a Brantford store during the day on Nov. 17 and waited until it was empty but for the female staff person.

He locked the front door and forced the woman into the back of the store where he sexually assaulted her while threatening her with a hammer he had in a nearby duffel bag.

“Nobody knows why you’ve done this,” said Justice Colette Good at Hearn’s sentencing hearing.

“(Since) it is unknown why you did this crime it puts you in a position where the court can’t assess your risk to the community. It’s unknown what level of danger you present.”

Good noted that Hearn said he couldn’t remember raping the woman, but he was quick to point out an error in the timeline of the offense when the Crown lawyer misread things.

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The judge also said Hearn has a “significant history” of drug use and has done little to address his addiction.

“That’s a criminogenic factor that causes you to be a risk and a danger to this community.”

After sexually assaulting the woman, Hearn stole $400 from the store and left.

The woman called police and they found Hearn a short distance away.

The mother of the victim told the court how the crime has affected her entire family and changed her daughter from a happy “go-getter” to a woman who struggles to get out of bed.

“After that day, she doesn’t have that same sparkle. She needs her family to help with most tasks. She’s not the same person.”

Assistant Crown attorney Cameron Rogers asked the judge to “send a message” to both Hearn and the public that such an attack on a vulnerable worker and a stranger demands a substantial sentence.

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Good said rape currently has a maximum sentence of 10 years unless the victim is under 16 or a weapon is used.

“If a man breaks into someone’s house while they’re at work and steals their television, the maximum sentence is life imprisonment,” said the judge.

“Those disparities about maximum sentences in the criminal code certainly reveal, to some extent, the misplaced value we have in property crimes over crimes that involve the person. Slowly that is changing.”

But Good said Hearn has condemned his victim to a life sentence of trauma.

“I was not in my right mind,” Hearn told the judge.

“I was on drugs but I still did what I did and I apologize to the court and the girl and her family. I apologize to my mother. She taught me to be better than this.”

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The court learned Hearn had started using drugs at a young age and had become addicted to crystal methamphetamine.

Good said the drugs Hearn was using can drastically alter the brain and cause users to be impulsive and violent but, she added, despite a major effort by family to get the young man out of the city and away from his addiction for six months, he relapsed and showed little sign of trying to turn his life around.

“This crime is every woman’s worst nightmare,” said Good.

She sentenced Hearn to eight years in prison less the time he had already served, calculated at about 14 months.

Hearn won’t be allowed to have certain weapons for the rest of his life and will be on the sexual offenders list for the next 20 years.

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