Caution: This article contains graphic details that may be triggering for some.
A former Carleton student was sentenced to one year in prison on April 1 for raping a woman while she was sleeping in the summer of 2010.
Delroy Dyer, 26, initially told the court the sex was consensual, but Superior Court Justice Paul Lalonde did not accept his evidence.
After his conviction for sexual assault, Dyer admitted to the crime.
“I don’t know what overcame me,” he said to his probation officer, according to the Ottawa Citizen.
He was originally convicted of the crime at a trial Jan. 22.
Céline Dostaler, Dyer’s defence lawyer, said the sentence was a good result.
“The Crown was thinking two years, so we were able to bring that down to one year,” she said.
Dyer committed the crime in 2010 after a night of drinking and smoking marijuana at the house of the woman who was raped in the Glebe neighbourhood, according to court documents. The woman fell asleep and woke up to Dyer having sex with her without her consent.
“It’s unfortunate what happens when drugs and alcohol lead to bad decisions,” Dostaler said.
In the morning, the woman who was raped told Dyer “to get the fuck out.” She later took a Plan B pill, went to the police, and had a vaginal examination.
The woman dropped out of university and moved home with her parents, according to the Citizen. She was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and attempted suicide.
“What he did has changed my life; I have lost so much and cannot get it back,” the woman told the probation officer, according to the Citizen.
It took five years from the time Dyer was charged with the crime to get the case to trial.
He will be serving out his year-long sentence at the Ontario Correctional Institute in Brampton, Ont. where he’ll receive counselling.
Dyer was elected to the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) council as a public affairs councillor in 2011. He was also elected to the Carleton Academic Student Government as a public affairs co-ordinator in the same year. Dyer resigned from CUSA council in January 2012.
Dostaler said she doesn’t believe Dyer will re-offend.
“His pre-sentence report was shining,” she said. “This is a one-time mistake.”
For students who have been impacted by sexual assault, Carleton’s peer support sexual assault line is 613-620-1030 and can be phoned between 8 a.m. and midnight.
—with files from Rachel Collier
