TORONTO – An Ontario man who fled to Pakistan after being found guilty of sexual assault was sentenced in absentia Monday, in what a Toronto judge called a “phenomenally rare procedure.”
Moazzam Tariq – a permanent resident of Canada from Pakistan – was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison.
The 29-year-old had been out on bail awaiting sentencing when he fled the country last month. A Toronto police detective said Monday Tariq had handed over to authorities another Pakistani passport as part of his bail conditions.
“Mr. Tariq travelled on a valid passport, a Pakistani passport,” said Det. Anthony Williams.
“In fact, the passport that he was ordered to surrender was an expired passport that was forged.”
Justice Mara Greene said it is up to a judge to deal with a matter in absentia when someone is found to have absconded beyond a reasonable doubt.
“There can be no doubt that Mr. Tariq has absconded,” the judge said.
Williams said it was not the first time Tariq fled the country during an ongoing court case, noting that the man left for Pakistan for one year after being charged with dangerous driving in 2010.
But he said the court had not been aware of Tariq’s earlier abscondment when the man was granted bail in the sexual assault case because a national police database used to look up criminal records appeared to have not been updated with that information at the time.
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Greene said she decided to proceed with Tariq’s sentencing despite the man not being present because of the needs of the victim in the case.
“To avoid sentencing Mr. Tariq because he has chosen to abscond and chosen not to come to court in my view would lead to an unjust result for the victim,” she said.
Tariq met the woman, who cannot be identified, at a Toronto nightclub in July 2015, Greene said.
While at the club, Tariq hit on the woman and provided her with alcohol despite it being clear that she was already intoxicated, the judge said. Part of their interactions at the club, as well as later in the night, were captured on surveillance videos that became key evidence in the case.
“Mr. Tariq’s general nature that night was to objectify (the woman) and take advantage of her vulnerable situation,” Greene said.
Later than night, Tariq took the woman to a hotel, where he “forged her name” while checking in, Greene said.
“He took advantage of her incapacity and sexually assaulted her without her consent, because she was not capable of consenting at the time,” Greene said.
Tariq did not use a condom, placing the woman at risk, and left the woman alone in the hotel room after the sexual assault, Greene said.
“There was obviously a huge impact on (the woman),” Greene said, noting that the woman told court in a victim impact statement that the sexual assault had made her change her behaviour to the point where she stopped being herself.
“It is difficult to imagine that feeling of stopping to be who you are because of someone else’s callous violence towards you.”
Tariq’s attitude towards women on the night of the assault, his decision not to use a condom, providing the woman with alcohol despite her intoxicated state and his planned and deliberate actions by the time he left the nightclub with the woman knowing she lacked the capacity to consent, all count as aggravating factors in his case, Greene said.
Greene found there were no mitigating factors in the case. Tariq’s lawyers asked to be removed from the case once it became clear that their client had fled.
Outside court, Crown lawyer Jill Witkin said she was satisfied with the sentence, noting that she thought it was just.
Witkin also explained that if Tariq returns to Canada he will be arrested for failing to appear in court, failing to comply with his bail conditions and will also be taken into custody to serve his sentence.
Toronto police say they are still working on Tariq’s case and note that there is now a nation-wide warrant out for his arrest. Canada has no extradition agreement with Pakistan.