Convicted sex offender pleads guilty to sexual assault at bus shelter

A convicted sex offender has been sentenced to two years less a dayin jail, to be followed by 18 months probation, for an attack on a woman at a Calgary Transit bus stop in March of last year.

Chase Collier, 25, pleadedguilty Tuesday to sexual assault causing bodily harm for the March 22, 2016 attack.

An agreed statement of facts presented to the court says the victim who can't be identified boarded the No. 3 bus at about 10 p.m. and Collier got on behind her.

Surveillance video from the bus shows Collier pulling up the hood of his jacket before walking past her, sitting at the back of the bus, then changing seats soon after so he was out of her peripheral vision.

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He stared intently in her direction during the bus ride, and waited for the victim to get off before exiting the rear door, checking to make sure she had exited before he did.

He then walked to the side of abus shelter, where the woman had gone. He smoked a cigarette, waiting for other people to leave the area.

He then approached the victim at the shelter and began groping her very aggressively.

She pushed him away, but he continued, talking to her in a vulgar manner.

She tried to leave the shelter and he responded by punching her in the side of the face until she fell to the ground, where he sexually assaulted her.

She managed to push him away and another bus pulled up to the shelter, causing Collier to flee south.

The woman was unable to speak properly and couldn't eat solid foods for some time after the attack.

Collier turned himself in to police two days later and in an audio statement, talked about having an irresistible urge to touch the woman and said he could see she was bleeding from the mouth when he ran away.

He also wrote a note of apology to the victim and gave it to a detective investigating the case, saying she "did not deserve such a vicious attack."

Collier also pled guilty Tuesday to previously failing to register as a sex offender as required along with harassment of other women in separate incidents.

The sentence was agreed to by defence lawyer Ben Leung and Crown prosecutor Marta Juzwiak and accepted by the judge. Collierhas just over a year left to serve because he was given credit for pre-trial custody.

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