'The justice system failed me,': Sexual assault victim speaks out

A woman who was a victim of a sexual assault as a teenager says she feels let down that the man convicted in her case has been granted day parole after eight months behind bars. 

Gilles Robert Leger, now 48, was sentenced by the Supreme Court of B.C. earlier this year to three years in prison. He was granted day parole on Oct. 4.  

The woman, who we can only identify as K.W. because of a publication ban, says she was shocked when she heard the news.

"Why sentence someone when they're not even going to serve it? Why look for justice and have hope in the system when it just terribly failed me?" said the now 20-year-old. 

In October 2011, K.W. was 15 years old. She went on a camping trip in Chilliwack, B.C. with her friend and her friend's step-father, Leger.

Court documents show Leger bought them alcoholic coolers and was drinking himself, before offering K.W. a ride on an ATV. 

"I ended up at the back of the quad, and he raped me," said K.W.

The judge called it a "very troubling case" and said the "young, vulnerable" victim was "subjected to a serious sexual assault which has devastated her and her family."

"All of a sudden my life went from very nice ... into being a nightmare, a never ending nightmare," said K.W., who added she has been battling depression and anxiety since the incident. "I do not know how I can heal from this outcome," she said. 

'I felt like I was blamed'

K.W. felt the three-year sentence was too light, even before she learned Leger had been granted parole. She pointed out that the court process for the case took more time than the sentence itself: more than four years. 

"Throughout this whole time I felt like I was blamed. I had to prove myself. I felt like I was on trial. He wasn't on trial. Gilles just sat there. I had to testify. I think one day it was ... eight hours," she said. 

"But I kept reminding myself, I have to do this. I have to do it for me, for other victims who didn't get a chance to report it or testify. And I wanted my voice heard," she said. 

After what K.W. describes as a grueling few years, Leger was convicted, sentenced, ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years and prohibited from contacting K.W. or her family.

Risk of reoffending low 

Documents from the Parole Board of Canada hearing show that Leger was granted day parole in the city of Edmonton, where he will continue to work for a construction company.

They show he was granted parole because his risk of reoffending was considered low, and his potential for reintegration high.

Simon Fraser University criminologist and assistant professor Nicole Myers says part of the mandate of the Correctional Service of Canada is to reintegrate the offender back into the community, which is why most people will be released from custody before the end of their sentence.

"Without this time, people are released 'cold' as their sentence is over," she said, adding that parole allows for an offender's reintegration to be supervised. 

'Big slap in the face'

K.W, who was thinking of pursuing a career in victim services, feels the entire process is discouraging.

"I proved him to be guilty and I still had to be fighting him even when I already did my job as a victim, I testified and fought it, but it failed ... it's a big slap in the face," she said. 

Now, she is rethinking her career path because she has lost faith in the system. 

"Why encourage us to go through the justice system when you are not going to focus on the victim, but you're also not going to create justice by putting him behind bars?" she said. 

Even though K.W. feels let down, she doesn't want to discourage other sexual assault victims from coming forward, because she says seeing her offender handcuffed has helped her heal.