A former university football player who sexually assaulted two women has been sentenced to just two years in prison because he is black and was feeling intense pressure around the time of the attacks, the judge said.
Omogbolahan Jegede, 25, had choked one of the women almost into unconsciousness.
“It should be noted that but, for the contents of the Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA), the pre-sentence report and all the mitigating factors surrounding Omogbolahan (Teddy) Jegede, this sentence would have been much higher,” Justice Frank Hoskins said in his Nova Scotia Supreme Court decision on Wednesday.
The women were attacked in residences at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., in 2022 and 2023. One woman testified that Jegede choked her; one woman was forced to perform oral sex. Both women said they were physically dominated by Jegede, who is much larger than they are.
The author of an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment, a report funded under a new initiative from the Trudeau Liberals, wrote that Jegede was feeling intense pressure around the time of the assaults and did not have culturally appropriate support to turn to.
{snip}
He noted that Jegede was born in Lagos, Nigeria. He moved with his family to Canada in 2010. They lived first in Brampton, Ont., and then moved west to Fort McMurray, Alta. His mother said the transition to Canada was a significant adjustment for the family, and said their youngest son “experienced bullying in elementary school due to his accent and racial identity as a black child.”
The IRCA writer looked at this kind of cultural factor, outlining declines in Jegede’s course performance and mental health in his second and third years at St. FX. Jegede told the writer that he struggled with a sense of isolation being a black man in predominantly white university town. {snip}
Reading from the IRCA, Justice Hoskins said: “The absence of adult mentors or role models further exacerbated Mr. Jegede’s vulnerability. His parents had hoped his football coach would provide guidance, but this need went unmet.”
Hoskins said the IRCA “provided valuable insight. It has provided me with an understanding of Mr. Jegede’s background from a social, cultural perspective.”
{snip}
In April 2021, David Lametti, former minister of justice, announced funding of $6.64 million over five years, followed by $1.6 million annually to implement IRCAs across Canada. “IRCAs are pre-sentencing reports that help sentencing judges to better understand the effect of poverty, marginalization, racism, and social exclusion on the offender and their life experience,” the justice department stated in a 2021 press release. “IRCAs explain how the offenders lived experiences of racism and discrimination inform the circumstances of the offender, the offence committed, and the offender’s experience with the justice system.”
The post Judge Reduces Sex Criminal’s Jail Time Because of His Race appeared first on American Renaissance.
American RenaissanceRead More
R1
T1
