Man sentenced for groping 2 women on Vancouver Island transit bus
CTV
A 36-year-old man who groped two women on a Victoria-area transit bus has been sentenced to three years of probation.
A 36-year-old man who groped two women on a Victoria-area transit bus has been sentenced to three years of probation.
Alex James Barber was sentenced in the Western Communities court in Colwood last week after pleading guilty to two charges of sexual assault.
Barber told the court he was "really drunk" when he groped the buttocks of two female passengers who walked by him in the aisle of the bus on Nov. 1, 2021, adding that he thought "it would be a good way to find a girlfriend," according to the sentencing decision of B.C. provincial court Judge Ted Gouge.
Barber has a history of mental health challenges, the court heard, including diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, cannabis use disorder and alcohol use disorder.
He was previously charged with a sexual assault that occurred on Sept. 6, 2021, for which he received a conditional discharge and two years of probation.
The Crown prosecutor had asked the judge for a suspended sentence and three years of probation, while Barber's lawyer argued for a conditional discharge and two years of probation.
"This is not the first time that Mr. Barber has committed a sexual assault," Gouge wrote in his reasons for denying the request for a conditional discharge.
