Man Convicted of Assaulting Elderly Woman Had Prior Deportation Order
A man sentenced to eight years in prison for sexually assaulting an 84-year-old woman in her Côte-St-Luc home had been ordered removed from Canada years before the December attack. Van Giau Do, 44, a resident of Montreal's St-Laurent borough, received his sentence on March 19 at the Montreal courthouse.
"A Veritable Scene from a Horror Movie"
Quebec Court Judge Thierry Nadon described what happened to the elderly woman as "a veritable scene from a horror movie" while imposing the prison term. The assault occurred on December 14 when the victim was home alone watching television.
During a commercial break, she went to her basement to tend to laundry. As she prepared to return upstairs, she encountered Do standing in her home, nude from the waist down and wearing only a winter jacket.
Pattern of Criminal Behavior
Do has a criminal record that includes at least two previous convictions for sexual assault. According to a Parole Board of Canada decision from January 4, 2022, Do has permanent resident status in Canada but was facing deportation proceedings with the Canada Border Services Agency.
The parole board noted: "On November 8, 2011, a release order was issued against you and several conditions were imposed while the removal order was pending."
Details of the Assault
During the December attack, Do threatened to rape the 84-year-old woman before forcing her into her bedroom where he sexually assaulted her. After the assault, he walked through her house disconnecting telephone landlines.
The woman seized a moment of distraction to flee to a neighbor's home dressed only in her pajamas. Montreal police officers responding to the incident found Do running through the woman's backyard and arrested him.
Prior Convictions and Parole Violations
Do was serving a 33-month sentence from April 2019 for sexually assaulting a woman he knew three times when the parole board revoked his statutory release in 2022. The parole decision described how Do had initiated contact with this victim when she was a minor.
The decision detailed: "During the first incident, you ignored her refusal and her cries. Before the second assault, you gave the victim a pill, and she appeared to have no recollection of the events that followed."
Failed Deportation Process
A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency said they would respond to requests for updates on Do's removal order "as soon as possible." The name of Do's country of origin was redacted from documents obtained by media, but records indicate his family fled a war when he was two years old, spending two years in a refugee camp before settling in Canada.
Pattern of Non-Compliance
Do automatically qualified for statutory release on November 5, 2021, after serving two-thirds of his federal sentence. He breached conditions less than two weeks later by ignoring a curfew and failing to report to a halfway house.
He later told parole officers he left because he couldn't sleep due to another offender's snoring and a toothache. Do admitted to using "a wide variety of drugs" including cannabis, crack, cocaine and alcohol during this period, saying he "went a little overboard."
The judge referenced Do's criminal record as a significant factor in determining the eight-year sentence for the assault on the elderly woman. The case highlights concerns about individuals with removal orders remaining in Canada and committing further serious crimes.
