A file photo of the Renfrew County Courthouse in Pembroke. Photo by Errol McGihon/Postmedia

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Disgraced Army Corporal Garrett Beal, 29, has been jailed for raping a female officer after they met online.

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After hearing evidence at the trial, Ontario Court Justice JR Richardson described the sexual assault as painful and humiliating. The attack shattered the woman’s life. She filed a victim impact statement detailing the depressing, disfiguring effects of the attack which left her bleeding and in pain. Beal was a corporal in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Regiment at CFB Petawawa at the time he raped the woman. He maintains his innocence and shows no remorse. Beal is out on bail pending appeal. “She feels guilty for coming forward and participating in holding the accused accountable. He recognizes that this will have a profound effect on Mr. Beal’s life. The irony that she feels guilty but Mr. Beal does not is not lost on her,” the judge said in a ruling last month.

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Beal submitted a slew of glowing letters of support from colleagues, friends and family. One of his supervising officers described Bill as “one of the strongest corpsmen” under his command. Others expressed outrage at the guilty verdict and said it would be “out of character” for Beal to commit such a horrific crime. The judge sentenced Beal to two years in prison. Beal had no criminal record until the rape and the court heard he was brought up as a Christian by “good” parents who had been married for 40 years. Unlike so many sex predators, Beal suffered no childhood trauma. Born in Sackville, NB, Beal moved to Alberta with his family when he was five years old. They stayed in Peace River until he was 14 when they moved to Calgary.

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After finishing high school, Beal went to the University of Calgary for a year. He dropped out of school to work as a construction worker. He later enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces at 23 and had plans to fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer. The judge noted that the dream had been shattered. Beal took advantage of the drunken woman who was unable to push him off because of his size and weight, the judge reiterated. Beal’s texts to the victim on the night in question showed an intention to have sex with her regardless of her feelings towards him, the court in Pembroke heard. “Bill knew when he arrived that (she) just wanted to hang out and cuddle. She didn’t want sex. He hoped she would change her mind and he could have sex with her. He was going to ‘make a move’ or ‘try his luck’ to get her to have sex with him,” the judge recalled in his decision. Bill did not use a condom during the rape. The court heard he had passed chlamydia to a woman in the past. In this case, the judge recounted: “(The woman) suffered a deep internal incision in her vagina. This cut was painful and bled profusely. She was still in a lot of pain when the sexual assault nurse examined her 14 hours later.” Before sentencing in June, Beal received two job offers — one as an apprentice carpenter in B.C. and the other as a frame assistant in Alberta. Beal was successfully prosecuted by Ottawa Crown Prosecutor Suzanne Schriek.

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