Judge Trims Sentence in Alberta Sex Assault Case Due to Indigenous Heritage

The sign of the Calgary Courts Centre is seen in Calgary on Jan. 5, 2018. The Canadian Press/Bill Graveland

An Alberta judge has reduced the prison sentence of a former university football player of indigenous descent who was convicted of sexually assaulting a former girlfriend after she rejected his advances.

An Edmonton jury found Aaron Moore Minshull guilty last year of the July 18, 2020, “major sexual assault” of the female victim, who was not named in court documents.

A Court of King’s Bench judge sentenced him to three years in prison, noting in his Jan. 26 ruling that he had taken into account Moore Minshull’s “Indigenous heritage.” The 36-year-old accused’s mother is indigenous.

Justice Christopher D. Simard said he also considered mitigating factors such as Moore Minshull’s rehabilitation efforts and mental health struggles, “along with the collateral consequences that will be visited” on him, his new partner, and his family by a lengthy prison sentence.

“Without those mitigating factors, the fit and appropriate sentence would be significantly longer than three years,” the judge wrote. “However, a sentence below three years would simply not be proportionate to the gravity of this major sexual assault, and Mr. Moore Minshull’s very high degree of moral blameworthiness.”

The judge settled on three years less eight days for the time spent by the accused in pre-trial custody, although he noted similar cases have warranted three-and-a-half to four-year prison sentences.

The judge characterized Moore Minshull’s degree of responsibility and gravity of the offence as “very high,” because he persisted in having sexual intercourse with the victim despite her repeatedly saying no and trying to evade and escape him.

The two were drinking together at the time of the sexual assault. The judge noted that neither of them were “extremely intoxicated” and said that Moore Minshull had not lost the ability to regulate his behaviour.

“He used his much greater size and strength to physically and forcefully overcome her resistance,” the judge wrote, describing the incident as “a violent and forceful sexual assault.”

“This was not sexual touching in the context of confusion or mixed signals about consent,” Simard said. “He treated her as an object for his gratification. This was a gross and serious violation of CS’s physical, sexual and emotional integrity.”

The judge noted that Moore Minshull failed to use a condom and, due to tear in his frenulum, he was bleeding at the time of the assault. Both circumstances put the victim at “greater risk of unwanted pregnancy and disease,” Simard said.

Moore Minshull’s victim was “devastated” by the sexual assault, the ruling said, adding that she was “independent, adventurous and confident” prior to the assault but now experiences anxiety, nightmares, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Mitigating Factors

Moore Minshull’s indigenous heritage necessitated a Gladue report, a specialized, comprehensive pre-sentencing document used in Canadian courts for indigenous individuals.

The requirement was established in 1999 by the Supreme Court of Canada. It ruled that courts are required to take into account the distinct systemic and historical context of indigenous offenders—such as the effects of residential schools, colonization, and intergenerational trauma—when determining sentences to address their disproportionate representation in prisons.

During the Gladue report interviews, Moore Minshull said he primarily grew up in Toronto and while his mother is of indigenous descent, his father is not. He said the grandparents of his mother were attendees of a residential school, but added that he has not had any connection to his indigenous heritage.

“There were some traumatic events during (Moore Minshull’s) childhood and young adulthood. A younger sister was given up for adoption because of the family’s financial struggles. His parents separated at least once,” the judge said. “Another sister ran away, and she was pregnant when she returned to the family home. She was later placed in foster care after complaining about physical abuse in the family.”

His cousin died by suicide when he was 21 and Moore Minshull reported suffering from depression and previously contemplating suicide himself, the decision said, noting that there “may be a family history of mental illness.”

Moore Minshull had the opportunity to attend university on a football scholarship, the ruling said. Football was described as “his passion,” but his career in the sport was cut short by an injury and he did not finish his university degree.

He had no criminal record prior to the sexual assault. The judge noted significant drug and alcohol use in his ruling.

Moore Minshull informed the author of his Gladue report that he consumes marijuana on a daily basis, the court said. The decision added that he also seems to use alcohol with some regularity and cocaine, though not as often.

He has participated in a substance abuse rehabilitation program and stated that he maintained sobriety for one year following the completion of this program but said his goal was not to achieve complete sobriety, according to the decision.

“He thinks that his rehabilitation was successful and his relationship with drugs and alcohol is now more healthy and that he controls his alcohol use,” the judge wrote, adding that alcohol “played a major role in his commission of this offence and I fear that he might be underestimating its continuing role in his life and his prospects for full rehabilitation and reducing the risk of reoffending.”

The judge questioned whether Moore Minshull “is genuinely remorseful about the significant harm” he caused his victim but noted that he has a supportive family who have promised to help him “make positive changes in his life.”

The judge said Moore Minshull appeared to deflect “responsibility for his own actions,” and his evidence contains elements of “victim-blaming,” but wrote that he finds the likelihood of the accused reoffending “small.”