Kassidi Coyle’s mother breathed a sigh of relief on Monday morning after Shawn Roy, the man found guilty in February of sexually assaulting her daughter Kassidi, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and two years probation, which is the maximum sentence under the law.
Kassidi committed suicide four months after the assault, before Roy's sexual-assault case went to trial.
During the sentencing suggestions given by both the Crown and the defence in May, both sides acknowledged that the sexual assault led to her death.
Justice Robert Gattrell also acknowledged that reality in his judgment.
“This was a contributing factor to (Kassidi’s) suicide,” he said.
While Gattrell indicated he didn’t think Roy could have known the extent of the impact the assault would have on Kassidi, as they were strangers at the time, he said it was vitally important to send a message with the sentence.
“He did not try to restrain her and was co-operative with police,” Gattrell read from his sentencing report.
“He has learned a hard lesson from what occurred here.”
After the sentence was read on Monday and Roy was led away in handcuffs, Judi Coyle, Kassidi’s mother, sat down with BarrieToday.
“It feels good,” she said of the sentence. “I mean, 10 years would have been better, but hearing the judge say he was getting the maximum for everything, it felt really good.
“It’s finally over,” Judi added.
“He got to say goodbye to his family today before he was taken away to jail. I didn’t get to say goodbye to Kassidi."
Judi says she thinks Kassidi would have been satisfied with the outcome.
“She probably would have thought it wasn’t long enough,” said Judi. “But, she would have been happy that she won, and that it was over.”
On April 24, after reading their victim impact statements before the court, the Coyle family was dismayed to discover the Crown was only seeking an 18-month sentence with two years probation.
“No one talked to us,” Judi said at the time. “No one told us the maximum was 18 months (before that point). We thought the maximum was 10 years and we thought he might get three or four.”
“This is why people don't report,” she said at the time.
