In what he called a tragic and horrendous case, P.E.I. Supreme Court Justice Wayne Cheverie sentenced a Summerside man to four years in federal prison Friday.
Sean Travis Pineau, 25, had earlier pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting at knifepoint a woman he had been friends with for two years.
The Summerside courtroom had heard that at one point in their relationship, Pineau had asked the woman out, but she had told him she just wanted to be friends. Last October, the woman and Pineau went with a group of friends to a concert in Summerside. The woman knew it was going to be a late night, so arranged to spend the night on Pineau's couch.
At one point, Pineau tried to pull the woman into his bedroom. When she refused, he grabbed a knife, pushed her down on the couch, shoved a sock in her throat and raped her repeatedly. When she begged him to stop, he said if she moved or resisted, he'd slit her throat and hide her body in the woods.
Mother discovers the victim
Pineau told the woman he heard voices telling him to kill her. He bound her with duct tape and gagged her. He then called his mother in tears and then left the apartment.
Pineau's mother arrived at the apartment to investigate, found the woman, and called police.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said she's suffered from depression and nightmares since the attack, and she has trouble with trusting men.
"I'll never understand how someone could pretend to be my friend for two years, then rape me and take such pleasure in torturing me," she said.
A psychiatrist has diagnosed Pineau with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and said he is subject to fantasies and hallucinations.
Pineau stood in court and apologized to the woman.
"When I hear the facts of this case, it makes me sick," he said.
"My actions don't seem human."
He said his mental illness doesn't excuse what he did, and he hopes to get rehabilitation in prison. He said he would like to go back to school and become a productive member of society.
Cheverie accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence for a four-year sentence. With double credit for the eight months in jail he served before sentencing, Pineau will serve another 32 months behind bars.
