Okanagan man who groped woman in Osoyoos bar jailed

A 48-year-old Okanagan man who groped a woman at an Osoyoos pub has been jailed for three months.

Truck driver Martin Budd denied the sexual assault occurred and argued he was helping the woman wipe up a drink that someone spilled on her.

However, at the Penticton courthouse, June 23, Crown prosecutor David Reznikov said his answer defied logic and common sense and pointed to the CCTV footage.

It was 1 a.m. in July 2022, and Budd and the victim, who didn’t know each other, were both drinking on the patio of the Owl Pub in Osoyoos.

When someone accidentally spilled a drink over the woman, Budd, who was standing behind her, leaned over the woman’s shoulder and stuck his hand down her top, touching her left breast and nipple.

She confronted him, and Budd apologized, claiming he was attempting to wipe the spilled drink off her.

“Mr. Budd did not ask (the woman) if she needed help, he did not have a napkin in his hand, and the drink was spilled on (her) back and not her front,” the Crown said. “Mr. Budd approached a woman who was effectively a stranger from behind, he stuck his hand down her shirt and cupped her breast all under the guise of helping to wipe a drink that had been spilled on her back.”

Budd was later charged with sexual assault. He pleaded not guilty and represented himself, but at trial Judge Lynett Jung found him guilty.

“Budd has no insight into his offending and no remorse for what he did,” Reznikov said. “He denied to the report writer that (the woman) was ever physically or emotionally hurt. He asserted that his conviction disrupted his life more than (hers).”

However, a victim impact statement showed the devastating effect the sexual assault had on the woman and over time she became hyper vigilant.

“Anything that usually never bothered me suddenly threw my fight or flight into overdrive, such as being in crowds, wearing tops with cleavage, including the outfit I wore that day,” her statement read. “I had nightmares about the assault and woke up feeling violated even though I was alone in my own bed.”

She said being in crowds made her nervous because she became scared she’d be grabbed again

“I started sitting with my back to walls while I’m out so no one can sneak up on me. When men come near, I start crossing my arms and grabbing the edges of my top to make sure they can’t put their hand in my shirt again,” her statement read.

The woman developed crippling anxiety and began taking anti-anxiety medication. 

As the case dragged through the courts she found it more difficult to handle, describing the court process as a “secondary trauma.”

“I was stuck in purgatory for years and the multiple delays made it feel like it would last forever,” she said.

The woman said she couldn’t let herself forget any part of the sexual assault because she needed all the details when it went to trial.

During the trial, because Budd represented himself, he cross-examined her.

“I had to relive the abuse when my abuser questioned me,” she said.

Often, a lawyer will be appointed to cross-examine a victim if the accused is self-represented, but for reasons unexplained, this didn’t happen.

The woman’s statement spoke at length about the negative effects the sexual assault had on her. She started self-medicating with cannabis and using prescription sleep meds. It had greatly affected her relationship with her fiancé.

“I feel many of these impacts will last years longer, if not my whole life,” she said.

After being convicted, Budd was due to attend a pre-sentencing assessment, but failed to turn up several times. He did show up for a psychological assessment.

The court heard he did high school in Surrey and worked as a truck driver since he was 20 years old. He has no children and lives with his fiancé.

The psychological assessment found that Budd has problems with minimizing sexual violence and with self-awareness.

“He also expressed an unwillingness to engage in potential treatment, describing himself as ‘having been through enough,’” the Crown said.

Budd supplied the court with letters of support, including one from his fiancée, which expressed insight and remorse.

However, Reznikov said this insight had only come about when he realized the Crown wanted six months jail.

While similar offences often result in house arrest, Reznikov argued that in the age of the internet, house arrest is a far different sentence than when legal guidelines about house arrest came out in 2000.

“Increases in our technology and greater access to the internet has made serving a house arrest sentence notably less isolating and notably… less deterring,” Reznikov said.

Reznikov said a sentence had to clearly denounce Butt’s conduct and send a strong message.

Judge Jung agreed.

When asked if he wanted to address the court he said he was “extremely overwhelmed” with everything that was happening.

In the moments before he was sent to prison, Budd described the sexual assault as a “misunderstanding.”

“We shook hands… I was under the impression that we had agreed that it was an accident,” he said. 

Budd said if he went to prison, he’d lose his job, wouldn’t be able to pay his mortgage and would lose his house.

The judge wasn’t swayed and sentenced him to three months jail, followed by 18 months probation. He will also be on the sex offenders registry for 10 years.