Warning: This story contains disturbing details of a sexual assault.

A 56-year-old Burnaby man was sentenced to more than three years in prison after stopping a teenage girl waiting for a bus, driving her to his home, raping her, then sending her photo to a chat group, boasting about her. “I took it like a champ.”

Prakash Lekhraj, also known as Paul Lekhraj, was found guilty of one count of sexual assault and one count of producing or publishing child pornography after a trial last November.

He was sentenced in September to three years and three months in prison and placed on the national sex offender registry for 20 years.

Crown prosecutor Mark Myhre had asked for a prison sentence of four to five years, saying the sentence should send a message to Lekhraj, members of his chat group and anyone else who hears about the case. .

“The court should make it clear that this would be the biggest mistake of anyone’s life,” Myhre said at the sentencing hearing in September.

He noted that Lekhraj was sober when he picked up his victim, who was waiting for a bus early in the morning of August 23, 2020.

“Like so many teenagers who are molested, she finds herself in a situation and she doesn’t know how to get out of it,” Myhre said, “and Mr. Lekhraj runs with that vulnerability.”

Given the context, Myhre called the messages Lekhraj sent to his chat group “truly despicable.”

He noted that Lekhraj had a criminal record, including a conviction for living on the avails of prostitution in 1995.

Myhre acknowledged that the file was dated but said “this offense treats a woman like an object: this offense treats a woman like an object.”

Judge Ellen Gordon of the British Columbia Provincial Court said it demonstrated “an attitude toward women that has persisted for decades.”

But defense attorney T. Paisana said his client was not the “monster or predator” Myhre claimed to be.

Paisana said Lekhraj was a devoted son, who cared for his mother during her final battle with advanced dementia, and an entrepreneur, who built a successful moving business after overcoming an abusive childhood.

A forensic psychologist also found that Lekhraj presented a low risk of reoffending.

“The expert tells us this is not someone you need to worry about,” Paisana said.

He said Lekhraj should serve a two-year sentence in the community with three years of probation, which would keep him under court supervision longer than a federal sentence.

But Mr Justice Gordon said a suspended sentence was not appropriate in this case.

She cited a Supreme Court of Canada decision that the sentences handed down for such crimes must be increased and the damage they leave in their wake must be corrected.

In his ruling, Gordon noted that Lekhraj told the court during the trial that he “never needed to ask a woman’s consent to have sex with her.”

Gordon said Lekhraj had led a “relatively honest life” during this millennium, but described the sexual assault, which included anal and vaginal penetration, as “profound”.

“He must have seen her vulnerability,” Gordon said. “It would have been impossible to miss.”

Lekhraj had sought dismissal of the case due to legal delays.

His trial began only 45 days after the expiration of the 18-month maximum for trials in provincial courts.

But Gordon rejected Lekhraj’s candidacyclaiming that the delay was caused by an “exceptional event” that was unforeseen and difficult to remedy easily.

The victim, who cannot be named due to a publication ban, was unable to testify in March 2023, when the case was first due to go to trial, because she was too emotionally fragile after her baby friend broke up with her shortly before she was put on trial. at the helm, according to Gordon.

Lekhraj is appealing his conviction.

Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
E-mail (email protected)