Se | House arrest for sex offender — By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN A LOCAL MAN will serve his sentence for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl under house arrest in the Terrace areca. Patrick Joseph Rinsma, 32, was found guil- ly of sexually assaulling a Terrace teenager by Justice Douglas Halfyard on May 1, 2002. On July 27 the local man was sentenced to a 15-month conditional sentence to be served in the community. For 12 of those months Rinsma will be confined to his residence 24 hours a day, seven days a week except to re- ceive drug and alcohol treatment, sex offender treatment or to conduct personal business. Court heard the victim, who can’t be named because she is a minor, was an acquaintance of Rinsma’s and visited his hame with another female friend May 23, 2001. The victim's friend left the home saying she would return. While she was gone Rinsma in- vited the girl up stairs. Halfyard said he wasn’t convinced the girl was taken upstairs by force. Once in his upstairs bedroom, Rinsma threw the girl on the bed, held her down and told her in graphic detail he was going to have sexual intercourse with her, court heard. “She yelled ‘no’ and screamed for help,” Halfyard said. “He covered her mouth.” The girl’s screams were heard by passersby outside who broke into Rinsma’s home and in- terceded, court heard. “The accused heard them coming and let Feds set date to decide offshore oil By JEFF NAGEL OTTAWA will make a de- cision on whether to lift its moratorium on offshore oil and gas expforation within a year to 18 months, says natural resources minister § Herb Dhaliwal. : her go,” Halfyard said. Shortly after, some of those people returned to Rinsma’s apartment, assaulled him and stabbed him in the back, Halfyard said. Rins- ma called police, who responded to the scene and subsequently arrested him. He's been in jail since the offence took place and was given 18 months credit for the time served. Crown prosecutor Grant Lindsey asked for a jail-sentence of five to eight. years. He said Rinsma poses a threat to the community, pointing to the man’s previous criminal record. Rinsma was convicted of sexual assault causing bodily. harm in 1994 after holding a woman against her will for more than three “A sentence must not only fit the crime but the criminal.” hours and brutally raping her, court heard.. That April 1993 attack stopped because the woman was able to escape, court heard. “He only failed to achieve his stated goal of having sex with the victim because of the intervention of other people,” Lindsey argued. “His past conduct sheds light as to how far this offender would have gone in this case.” Rinsma’s lawyer Keith Aartsen argued the attack wasn’t planned. He said Rinsma should receive a conditional sentence. Aartsen asked the judge to consider that the attack happened during the day, with people in the area and that Rinsma knew the victim’ 8 friend would be returning. Halfyard said it was a strong submission adding determining Rinsma’s intent would be difficult because the assault was interrupted “before anything serious - or more serious” happened. “In my opinion a sentence must be propor- tionate to the gravily of the offence,” Halfyard said in making his decision. “A sentence must not only fit the crime but the criminal.” Justice Halfyard imposed several conditions on Rinsma’s sentence. He's not allowed con- tact with the victim or be found within 100 metres of her home. Rinsma, who has a history of mental illness, must also take medication as prescribed to him by doctors. He’s not allowed contact with people under 16 unless he’s supervised and he must allow officials into his home so they can make sure he is complying with his sentence. A lifetime firearms and weapons ban was also imposed. The remaining three months of his sentence Rinsma is free to leave his home but must abide by all the terms of his sentence. He'll also be on probation for three years following his sentence. Crown counsel has 30 days to file an ap- peal. That decision has not yet been made. “We need to make a decision based on sound science and that’s what we'll do,” he said. Dhaliwal said Ottawa won’t match a $2 million budget from the province OIL PLATFORMS could be coming to Hecate Strait if the federal and provincial governments both lift moratoriums on exploration. for studies to be led by fl Phone: 604-689-0878 The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 31, 2002 - A? , . James W. Radelet | -RADELET & COMPANY Barristers & Solicitors Tax Law e Trusts © Corporate & Commercial 1330 - 1075 West Georgia Streat, Vancouver, B.C. Y6E 3C9 Fax: 604-689-1386 HOUSE OF COMMONS Andy Burton Member of parliament for Skeena Constituency Olfice 4454 lazalle Ave. Terrace, B.C, V8G 1846 Phone: (250} 635-1601 Fox: (250) 635-4109 Toll Free: 1-800-461-2208 E-mail: andy@andyburton.ca Website: werw.an spuron ca Pease have your rig leashed or fenced-in away _ ftom your mail boxes on ! Wednesdays and Saturdays so your newspaper carrier con deliver your paper. He set that target before a chamber of commerce Juncheon here Friday. “For the first time we've set a plan to move forward,” Dhaliwal said. The decision puts Otta- wa on the same track as the provincial government, which decided this spring to push ahead with efforts to open up offshore waters after reports concluded there are no scientific rea- sons not to allow drilling. We're There & We Care o, Please welcome your neighbourhood f canvassers when ttiey knock on your door Herb Dhaliwal! Detailed federal studies will need to be underta- ken, Dhaliwal said, al- though he would not say how much money Ottawa will commit to that work. AHTBH CONIA AND YUEGN Deets! CANADIAN soar CAH Cte sea at . SOCIETY \ | a proud sponsor of PSHRWAGS (at STOPPERS _ Terrace Crime Stoppers are asking for help to solve two altemals to break into residences near Terrace, B.C. --On the afternoon of June 25th, 2002, someone forcibly. “removed the frame to.a window of a residence. at Water Lily . "Bay. near Terrace. Entry may have besn n gained, but no. " @vidence of a theft has yet surfaced. | o ~ 2 Also; June 28th, 2002, a resident of the 4600 block of Tuck _ Avenue Was In her. backyard for lunch when someone broke. “inte her residence by breaking the door jamb tot he front door.: 2 Entry may have. been gained. ‘Nothing was: stolen’ and a: description of the suspect has yet to be obtained. ces Many -burglaries: occur: during the ‘daytime, “When. home.” “owners: are -at. ‘work, ct you see suspleous activity In your: “neighbourhhod, call police, : Terrace Crimastoppers wants your information; “not- your: “name, Any information is valuable and may lead t to, the arrest ~ and conviction, of the offendars. Ben Crime Stoppers offers o cash reward of up to $1,000. Oo tor : Information leading ta an arrest and charges belng laid against an Individual In this or other unsolved crime. If you have any information call Crime Stoppers at 635-TIPS that’s 635-8477, Callers will not be required to reveat thelr Idantity nor testify In “1 court. 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Instead, he said, the federal natural resources department will provide its staff time and in-kind. re- sources to aid the studies. “We have a lot of ex- pertise in this area,” Dha- liwal said. “We'll look at where the gaps are in our different departments and see what they think needs to be done.” Dhaliwal said the fed- eral government won’t in- sist on settlement of abori- ginal claims to the seabed prior to making the deci- sion on Lifting its moratori- um. “Those claims before the courts could take years and years,” he said. “I don’t think we can hold up the progress on oil and gas and on the position of the moratorium.” He said any activity permitted will have to be environmentally sound. And he predicted abori- ginal communities will play a key role in any fu- ture offshore oil and gas industry. “] don’t think the First Nations are saying they are against activity,” Dha- liwal said. “They’re saying do it in an environemntally sound way, number one, to make sure we don’t dam- age the environment. And second of all they want to be at the table as well.” Prince Rupert * Terrace-Kitimat * Smithers from Vancouver’s convenient South Terminal INCLUDING TAXES AND FEES Book Wednesday, July 31 through Wednesday, August 7 for fights August 12-28, 2002. New bookings only, limited seating, 3 day advance, restrictions apply. Call your travel agent or r HAWKAIR & 1211-8 66-429-5247 Hs feos viper Ty save )more | toe avagpmare sata Smer nora. eaave-Zore t toe O-:O=8 10 ROLISIN ont SAVE-ON-MORE SAVE-ON MORE, SAVE OM MOF EH er pete DUMPED [OG Purex _ Bathroom Tissue Double, 12 Rolls sma ee SO MUCH Mone IN STORE Pres effective Wed nesday to Saturday, July 31 to o August 3, 2002. ae