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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Rapist 'forgives' victim, witnesses

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 08/30/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

A convicted Manitoba rapist is remaining defiant to the bitter end, saying he "forgives" his young female victim and other witnesses he claims conspired to bring him down.

Russell Harry appeared in court Wednesday to be sentenced for a spree in which he sexually assaulted the woman, then violently invaded her home and stabbed her weeks later in an attempt to silence her.

Harry, 39, has denied wrongdoing and was only convicted after a trial this year. When asked by the judge Wednesday if he had anything to say, Harry didn't hold back.

"I pray for the people who came against me and gave false testimony," he said in an off-the-cuff speech.

Queen's Bench Justice Diana Cameron reserved her decision until later this year. The Crown is seeking 13 years in prison, while Harry's lawyer asked for between five and eight years behind bars.

"God knows everything about everyone on the Earth. He knows the hearts of men. Some are evil, some are good," Harry continued. "He knows I did not lie in court."

Harry has an extensive criminal history and has been deemed a high risk to reoffend. Crown attorney Debbie Buors told court the only way to protect society from him is with a lengthy sentence, especially given his chilling lack of remorse or victim empathy.

"The court needs to condemn this type of behaviour," said Buors, who accidentally misspoke and called the accused "Mr. Scary" at one point. "Obviously through past incarcerations he didn't get the message. I'm not sure Mr. Harry is a person willing to be rehabilitated."

Harry was living on the Little Black River First Nation when he attacked the young woman, who was the ex-girlfriend of his younger brother. He sexually assaulted her while another man pinned her to the ground, court was told.

The victim didn't immediately go to police. Harry became concerned she was going to reveal what happened and went to her house weeks later, armed with a knife. He dragged the woman by her hair outside, down a flight of stairs and slashed her leg while choking and threatening her.

"He deliberately attended at her residence so she would not go to police about the sexual assault," said Buors.

The two attacks have had an "extreme psychological" impact on the victim, who gave a handwritten statement to court that the Crown read aloud on Wednesday.

"I am always having flashbacks. I feel so ashamed, so dirty and disgusted," she wrote. "I have nightmares where I wake up kicking and screaming. I don't like how this feels. It's awful and I hate myself."

The Crown is seeking consecutive sentences for the two crimes, saying they were separated by enough time to warrant the unusual move. Harry has close to three years of pretrial custody under his belt, which will be deducted from the penalty he is given.

www.mikeoncrime.com

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 30, 2012 A8

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