Warning: This story contains details that may be disturbing to some readers.
A man already serving jail time for killing a pedestrian while driving was sentenced June 19 to a further three years for sexual assault of a 16-year-old girl.
A 小蓝视频 Supreme Court jury found Alexandre Romero-Arata guilty of the offence. Justice Jan Brongers sentenced him after agreeing with a joint submission made by the Crown and defence.
Romero-Arata, 28, is currently serving a five-year sentence for dangerous driving causing death. There are two years left on that sentence. The sexual assault sentence is to be served consecutively to the fatality sentence.
In the sexual assault case, Brongers said Romero-Arata had met the girl on an online dating site.
She had said she was 17 while he said he was 20.
He was 25 and told her he was looking for a “sugar baby.”
The judge said the girl had mental health and addiction issues. She had been sober for a week, the court heard.
It was in November 2021 that the two met with her travelling to downtown Vancouver from Richmond.
Brongers said the Peruvian-born Romero-Arata was smoking a joint as he drove to Stanley Park where he began touching her.
There, he offered her alcohol despite knowing she had personal struggles, the judge said.
Then, Brongers said, Romero-Arata took the girl to a hotel and further touched and kissed her.
"She did not consent," Brongers said.
They then walked to a liquor store to purchase more alcohol before returning to the hotel.
Both undressed at which point Romero-Arata began slapping her face and breasts before having intercourse without a condom.
Again, Brongers said, she did not consent.
The judge called the girl’s testimony clear and cogent.
He called Romero-Arata’s behaviour reckless.
The court received victim impact statements from both the girl and her mother.
"'You didn’t just hurt our daughter,'" Brongers quoted the mother. "'You dismantled her sense of self. You fractured our entire family.'"
Brongers said Romero-Arata has accepted the jury verdict and has been remorseful and apologetic.
The judge said a sentence of four years had been proposed but lowered to three to account for the sentencing principle of totality. When there are multiple sentences, consideration is made as to whether the total prison time would be unduly harsh.
Death of Eoghan Byrne
In December 2024, Vancouver Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris sentenced Romero-Arata to five years in prison for hitting and killing an Irish tech worker in Vancouver on June 19, 2022.
Romero-Arata pleaded guilty on Nov. 29, 2023 in connection with the incident that claimed the life of Eoghan Byrne.
"While under the influence of alcohol, he decided to play Russian roulette with the lives of many, the significance differences being, the others had no choice, the others did not know they were at risk and that the item of destruction was an automobile and not a firearm," Harris said in his sentencing ruling.
Byrne and a friend were crossing West 4th Avenue at Arbutus Street on the late evening of the incident when he was struck and killed.
The driver failed to stop or offer assistance, police alleged.
"Mr. Romero-Arata drove in a grossly dangerous manner and in doing so he demonstrated a callous and arrogant disregard for the lives of other motorists, pedestrians and his own passenger," Harris said.
"In doing so, he struck and tragically killed Eoghan Byrne, a pedestrian who was crossing the road."
