28°c Partly cloudy
15°c Cloudy periods
Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Crown seeking dangerous offender status for child rapist
Justice officials are seeking a dangerous offender designation for a Winnipeg man who went on a sexually motivated rampage that included four separate attacks -- including the rape of an eight-year-old boy -- in inner-city apartment blocks.
Peter Lloyd Roger Laporte, 36, was found guilty earlier this year of eight criminal charges after a lengthy Court of Queen's Bench trial that included 65 witnesses. He returned to court today for a day-long sentencing hearing.
Given the severity of his crimes, the Crown wants Laporte branded a dangerous offender and sentenced to an indefinite period of custody with no guarantee of ever being released.
His first crime in this case was a sexual assault on a 38-year-old woman at about 4 p.m. Dec. 15, 2007. He jumped her inside a Cumberland Avenue apartment block, claiming he had a knife and would stab her. Laporte took the woman into a stairwell, removed their clothing and raped and beat her before fleeing.
He was arrested the next month but was released from custody on Nov. 10, 2008, when the Crown stayed the charges because of problems with the case, including identification of him as the culprit. The charges were revived weeks later when Laporte struck again in three more attacks. But the victim of the 2007 attack was unable to testify because she is currently in a coma after a traffic accident.
On Nov. 23, 2008, Laporte followed a child into an apartment block on Balmoral Street, taking him into a stairwell and violently sexually assaulting him. The boy escaped and ran for help after someone came into the stairwell. The boy was taken to hospital and treated for serious injuries.
The attack was partially captured on surveillance tape. Laporte's mother identified him as the adult in the video, despite Laporte denying any involvement at trial. There was also DNA evidence against him.
The victim, now 12, continues to suffer deep emotional scars, including suicidal thoughts, and "hates who he is," court was told.
"(The victim's) mother described some of the psychological effects on the boy. When asked to compare her son's state of mind before the attack with his state of mind after the attack, she stated that before the attack, he was an excited, loving, outgoing, personable child who loved to visit his many friends. Since the attack, he has been depressed, sad and scared," Justice Perry Schulman wrote in his 21-page decision to convict Laporte.
About 6:45 p.m. the same day, Laporte went to a Cumberland Avenue apartment block and cornered a 23-year-old woman who was holding her two-year-old child in an elevator.
He held a knife against her body and tried to pull the two victims into a stairwell once they exited. Another tenant interrupted the incident. Again there was video surveillance and Laporte was identified as the attacker.
The final incident happened around 9:30 p.m. that day when he attacked a 48-year-old woman who was walking to work from her Agnes Street home.
Laporte offered her some alcohol and she went with him to a nearby residence on Furby Street, where he began attacking her and eventually forced sexual intercourse on her. A caretaker heard the woman's screams and rushed to help, but Laporte attacked him.
The caretaker eventually overpowered Laporte, smashed his head on the ground and sat on him until police arrived.
Laporte lashed out at the arresting officers, kicking and punching them while screaming he had HIV and was going to infect them.
www.mikeoncrime.com
History
Updated on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 at 12:38 PM CST: Fixes typo in headline.
Fact Check
Have you found an error, or know of something we’ve missed in one of our stories? Please use the form below and let us know.
More Latest News
- Back to Top
- Return to Latest News
Poll
Most Popular Latest News
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- Sobey clan to alter city market
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- New crowd plan for Taylor Swift get-together
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- Teen on train tracks from York Landing
- Community's children apprehended by province
- Teens face charges after Transcona robbery
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Winnipeg man given 2-year sentence for coma-inducing 'sucker punch'
- Toronto woman dead in rural Manitoba ATV wreck
- RCMP say woman deliberately murdered her sister with her car
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Man convicted of drunk driving in Henderson pile-up
- Bomber fans wowed by new stadium
- Young girl found dead on railway tracks
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Hailstorm wreaks havoc on Winnipeg garden centre
- 87-year-old woman tells jurors, 'Somebody had to stand up to' Donald Trump
- Two people killed in crash north of Winnipeg
- Two Winnipeg teens identified as victims of crash
- HSC Home Lottery winners announced
- Father, daughter seriously injured in ATV crash
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Filipino singer Charice comes out as lesbian; Catholic official says she's in identity crisis
- Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits north, with temps topping 80 degrees (26C) in Anchorage
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- New crowd plan for Taylor Swift get-together
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Sobey clan to alter city market
- Accounts and accountability: UK committee says bankers must take more responsibility
- Youths charged in fatal shooting of chief's grandson, 5, on Alberta reserve
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Daycare-subsidy rules bad for business
- Only one workshop to be held on vacant land at The Forks
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Sobeys gobbles up Safeway
- Priest kept silent about accusations against Storheim, court hears
- Manitoba restaurant stops selling giant hamburger "for obvious reasons"
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- Geothermal heat coming to some Manitoba First Nations
- Spiralling cost of land raises new home prices
- Baked Alaska: Unusual heat wave hits north, with temps topping 80 degrees (26C) in Anchorage
- Rogers and MTS announce new network sharing agreement
- New owner for lumber stores
- Chiropractor guilty of sexually assaulting, beating ex-girlfriend
- Grocer Joe Cantor dies at 88
- Door openers being used to break into garages, police warn
- Province formally opens Mental Health Crisis Response Centre
- Hailstorm wreaks havoc on Winnipeg garden centre
- New rules let customers cancel phone contracts without penalty after two years
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- MTS to sell Allstream to Egyptian investment group, focus on Manitoba market
Ads by Google
