A man who hid in the bathroom of a Tim Hortons to sequester a woman and sexually assault her was sentenced to five years in prison, but will be free on Wednesday, because he has already been detained since fall of 2018 for this crime.
Posted at 3:21 p.m.
Edwin Alexander Santamaria has also been declared a long-term offender for the next seven years and will be placed on the sex offender register for 20 years.
In rendering her judgment on Tuesday at the Montreal courthouse, Judge Sonia Mastro Matteo denounced the “brutal sexual assault” committed by the 41-year-old man, in the middle of the afternoon, in the Saint-Michel district, the October 7, 2018.
The victim, upon entering one of the Tim Hortons restroom stalls, was amazed to discover that Edwin Alexander Santamaria was hiding there, leaning against the back wall.
Violent aggression
The attacker then rushed at her with force, which caused a violent physical altercation. Moreover, the straps of the victim’s coat were torn during the attack.
While trying to free himself from his grip, the victim tried to shout to alert customers in the restaurant, but the assailant put a hand over his mouth. On two occasions, the victim found himself on the ground.
During these events, which lasted a few minutes, the woman said, during her testimony, that Santamaria had “crushed” his lips on hers. Since she moved her head to prevent him from kissing her, he tried with his hands to immobilize her head.
A lady and a child then tried to enter the women’s restroom. Still according to the victim, the assailant then headed for the door to prevent it from opening. When the door finally opened, Santamaria came out, followed by his victim. Outside the restaurant, she asked her partner to run after the attacker, which he did.
Police officers who were nearby intercepted the culprit, who, in addition to struggling, struck one of them and tried to grab his service weapon. With the help of a passerby, and using pepper spray, the police finally subdued Santamaria.
Given the violent and premeditated nature of the attack, Judge Mastro Matteo sentenced him to three years in prison for sexual assault, in addition to imposing a two-year consecutive sentence on him for hitting a police officer and attempting to take his weapon.
However, as Santamaria has already been detained for more than three years, and as the pre-trial detention is calculated at the ratio of 1.5, he would only have 16 days left to serve.
Due to the “particularly harsh conditions of detention” attributable to the pandemic, the judge granted him an additional 15 days credit, which means that he only has one day left in prison to serve.
Probable recurrence
In her decision, the judge explained that the sentence imposed took into account the difficult past of Edwin Alexander Santamaria, who himself was allegedly sexually abused during his adolescence and who notably found himself alone in Canada at the age 14 years old, when his mother returned to Colombia without him.
But it also took into consideration the numerous previous offenses of the accused, in particular for domestic violence. Moreover, at the time of the assault on the Tim Hortons, Santamaria was on probation.
Despite the fact that he expresses a desire to get back on the right track, “the Court is convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that the repeated acts of aggression, spousal violence, sexual and prison violence constitute repetitive acts which make it possible to believe that Mr. Santamaria will cause serious psychological harm or harm to others,” Judge Mastro Matteo wrote.
That’s why she declared him a long-term offender for seven years.