Brain damaged man jailed for raping colleague at Lumby care home

CONTENT ADVISORY – This article deals with violent sexual assault

Regardless of his brain injury, and well below average IQ, a BC judge has sentenced a 43-year-old former North Okanagan man to two-and-a-half years jail for raping a former colleague in the bathroom of a Lumby care home where they both worked.

Jeremy Williamson’s lawyer, Kevin Church, had argued that his client’s cognitive abilities meant he was prone to problematic impulsive behaviour and shouldn’t be jailed but instead spend time under house arrest.

However, at the Vernon courthouse, Sept. 26, BC Supreme Court Justice Richard Hewson ruled that he wasn’t able to find that Williamson’s personal circumstances diminished his moral blameworthiness to any significant extent.

“This was a crime of violence that he committed against a woman far younger than himself,” Justice Hewson said. “It had a significant impact on (the victim).”

At an earlier court appearance, the victim, whose name is covered under a court-ordered publication ban, made an eloquent speech about the effects the sexual assault had on her.

She was 19 years old and was fulfilling a lifelong dream to study nursing when Williamson raped her.

A full-time student, the victim was working at a Lumby care home when the sexual assault happened in late 2020.

On one occasion Williamson had come up behind her and put his hand on her bum.

“She was surprised and told him to stop, but his hand remained on her buttocks until she moved her body,” Justice Hewson said.

On another shift, Williams had come up behind her and grabbed her breasts. Again, she told him to stop.

Days later, while she was in a client’s bathroom, Williamson came in and pulled her pants down and raped her.

She kept saying no, stop, no, stop, and started crying, the Justice said.

Thirty seconds later it was over, but the lasting effect was devastating.

“To truly understand and comprehend the damage that Jeremy has caused to myself, you must first understand the person I was before it happened,” the victim said in a statement she read out to the court. “The emotional impact that this assault has had on my life is incomprehensible. The assault took away my passion for nursing. It took away a lifelong goal and dream. I no longer felt safe in any sort of healthcare environment.”

The victim said she’d been left feeling angry, sad and disgusted by what had happened to her.

“After a gruelling amount of assessments, and having to describe what had happened to me, I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder,” she told the court. “In this process, I self-harmed more times than I can count on both hands and tried to take my own life.”

She said Williamson had taken away her happiness and passion for nursing.

“What he did to me has caused trauma that I will feel for the rest of my life,” she said.

Along with the trauma of the sexual assault, she said she’d had to find the strength to carry on through four years of legal proceedings and numerous delays.

“These repeated delays have stolen years of peace and healing from me and my family, but I continue to show up and stand for justice,” she said. “I will never be able to forgive you, Jeremy. What you did to me is disgusting, predatory and criminal. I won’t let what you did to me define me.”

The court heard that Williamson had been in a dirt bike accident when he was 14 years old. He spent three weeks in a coma and contracted meningitis. The crash left him with a permanent brain injury.

However, he got married and had two children who are now teenagers. He’d worked and if given straightforward instructions that were structured and predictable he could follow them.

Williamson sat next to his parents as the court heard how his marriage had ended after he was charged, and he’d moved back in with his parents in the Cariboo. He drank heavily, but successfully put himself through a rehab program.

A psychiatric report stated his IQ was between 70 and mid-80s and Williamson’s lawyer talked at length about his client’s cognitive limitations and how he tried to make himself look smarter than he was. He has very poor short-term memory and needs large amounts of time to complete basic tasks. The justice noted he had “affirm” written on his hand before he testified, so he could remember what to do.

The defence said that Williamson pleaded not guilty and says he didn’t do it, because he has no memory of it.

In a highly unusual move, Williamson’s mother also addressed the court.

“I do not excuse his behaviour, but I do believe that his medical condition is a key factor to consider in understanding how he came to be before the court,” she said. 

His mother said Williamson struggled with judgment, memory, impulse control and problem solving.

“I have worked hard to keep him safe, guide him and advocate for him… more than punishment, he needs structure, supervision and rehabilitation that are appropriate for someone with a neurological disability,” she said.

The court heard how Williamson couldn’t remember key dates, like when or how old he was when he got married. He couldn’t remember what he bought his kids for Christmas.

However, Justice Hewson said he’d seen no evidence that Williamson wouldn’t remember doing something as “exceptional and as violent as sexually assaulting another person.”

When Williamson addressed the court his cognitive abilities became very apparent.

He spoke slowly in a childlike manner, telling the judge he was very sorry for everything that had occurred.

“I am a 43-year-old loving and caring father of two children, a son and a daughter. I have never had any trouble prior to this incident with the police. I respect any decision that you make, your Honour,” he said.

Crown prosecutor Brock Bellrichard argued Williamson should spend two-and-a-half years in jail and Justice Hewson agreed.

Williamson was taken from the courtroom in handcuffs.

NOTE TO READERS: To connect with a victim service program or violence against women program call VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808. VictimLink BC provides information and referrals to all victims, as well as immediate crisis response to victims of sexual and family violence.