A St. Albert soccer coach got community service, a curfew and 20 months probation for assaulting his now ex-girlfriend and her parents.
In a trial earlier this year, Josiah Oresile was convicted of two counts of assault causing bodily harm, one count of assault and one count of mischief.
Oresile was picking up his girlfriend at her parents’ house in Lac La Biche. The pair had plans to move in together, but the girlfriend’s parents did not approve.
When he arrived, Oresile was repeatedly asked to leave the family’s home, but he refused.
Oresile’s girlfriend pushed him, and he threw her to the ground
Witnessing this, the girlfriend’s parents got involved. In the scuffle, Oresile bit two of the victims.
The mother had to get stitches on her finger. Both the father and mother got tetanus shots.
Oresile took a punch and was left with swelling on his cheek and around his eye.
Crown prosecutor Sean Hume argued for a 60-day jail sentence and 18 months probation on the basis that cases involving intimate partner violence require firm denunciation and deterrence.
Defence lawyer Christopher Chelala sought a conditional discharge, which offers offenders the chance of a clear criminal record and no jail time if they do not disobey court orders.
Much of Chelala’s argument for the lighter sentence centred on Oresile’s role in the community.
Oresile coaches for the U-15 girls’ Team Canada soccer team and the St. Albert Impact soccer club, and he will soon be starting a master’s degree in sports psychology, Chelala said.
A criminal record would interfere with Oresile’s ability to travel for soccer, Chelala argued.
A pile of character references suggested that Oresile was not only an excellent soccer coach, but also a good role model for the children he coaches.
He had no criminal record prior to the incident and hasn’t reoffended.
Hume pointed to many previous cases in which individuals convicted of assault involving domestic violence received prison time.
Chelala countered with cases of defendants who committed domestic violence and got conditional discharges.
In her decision, Justice Carrie-Ann Downey noted the wide range of possible sentences for domestic violence cases.
She gave Oresile a conditional sentence order, a sentence that typically involves house arrest. In Oresile’s case, Downey made an exception. She offered a four-month conditional sentence order with a curfew between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. That curfew will be shortened to 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. after four months and dropped entirely once Oresile completes six months of his 20-month probation.
She also gave Oresile 40 hours of community service.
“You have a lot going for you,” Downey said.
But Oresile did not escape receiving a criminal record. After Downey delivered her sentence, Oresile told court that he feared having the record would ruin his chances at a career, and that his life had ended.
“There are many professionals who have made mistakes who have criminal records,” Downey said.
She said Oresile could take his case to the Court of Appeal.
