A Richmond man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl has been sentenced to house arrest and probation.
Vancouver provincial court Judge Nancy Adams sentenced Taranjit Singh Sandhu, 44, Aug. 30 in relation to the Sept. 2, 2020 assault.
A publication ban bars anything that might identify the victim.
Adams said the assault lasted about five minutes while the teen was driving under Singh’s supervision.
“He knew it was wrong and tried to extort a promise of silence from her,” Adams said.
After the teen told her mother what happened, police were called.
The victim, now 19, cried as she read her victim impact statement.
“I hope that every time you look in the mirror that you hate yourself more than I have hated myself for what happened,” she said. “You ruined my life in ways you won’t understand.”
Adams said Sandhu did not attempt to reduce or mitigate his moral blameworthiness in the case.
The judge said the guilty plea spared the victim the trauma of testifying in court.
For the first three months of his conditional sentence, Sandhu must remain at home unless in exceptional and allowed circumstances.
“It is a jail sentence being served at home,” Adams said.
For the next six months, he must obey a 10 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew. A probation period was also imposed as well as counselling and a ban on intoxicants.
Sandhu lost his job after pleading guilty, Adams said.
