The man charged in connection with the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl in Surrey in 2014 was sentenced to six years behind bars after pleading guilty to a break-and-enter, but not the sexual assault or kidnapping charges.
Investigators said at the time the young girl was lured out of her open bedroom window by the suspect, who took her to a nearby park, where it is alleged that she was sexually assaulted. She was then taken to a nearby yard of a neighbourhood home and told by the suspect to remain there as he left. The girl managed to run back to her home and talk to her mother.
Twenty-eight-year-old Cory Schaumleffel of Chilliwack was arrested in connection with the crime. He was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, break and enter and numerous other charges.
Today, the court heard the accused removed the window screen in the victim’s home on the night of the incident and saw the naked child as she was getting ready to go to bed, standing in the room. It is alleged the girl followed him outside, where the suspect gave her his jacket. According to the evidence submitted by the Crown, the suspect thought the child was in need of help, so he went around the neighbourhood knocking on doors because he was concerned for her. The child then allegedly left and went home.
The Crown claims nothing happened ‘in the physical context’ between the accused and the victim. Schaumleffel’s defence says his intent was to break into the house and steal something to support his drug addiction, and not to sexually assault the girl.
However, in a victim statement that was read out in court, the girl claims she is still angry about the incident.
“Every time I see the window, I want to barf, because I think that another person could come through. I am very angry at that man and I don’t know why he would ask an innocent girl to come with him.”
The girl’s grandmother also gave a victim impact statement, saying:
“Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary and now it’s been violated. I am grieving the loss of a piece of mind. Nothing remains safe. We are told to teach our kids about stranger danger. It took less than a minute to obliterate what we taught her….There is no safe place if someone is intent on doing harm.”
Schaumleffel has an extensive criminal history, including 39 break-and-enters, which the Crown is calling an aggravating factor. But he has no history of sexual offences.
In a joint submission, Crown and Defence asked for six years in prison for Schaumleffel, which was reflected in the judge’s sentence. With credit for time served, his sentence will amount to another three years and three months behind bars.
In another bizarre twist to this case, Schaumleffel was arrested after a stay of proceedings against previously accused Donovan Adams, who was subsequently released without any charges being laid.
Several days after the incident, 23-year-old Adams was arrested in connection with the alleged crime. At the time, Surrey RCMP said Adams made comments that directly implicated himself in the assault.
However, his statement was independently analyzed, given his “vulnerability,” and the physical evidence didn’t confirm his assertions, leading the investigation in another direction which ended in Schaumleffel’s arrest.
-With files from Rumina Daya
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