Man still waiting for sentencing after conviction

By Lethbridge Herald on May 19, 2022.

Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
dshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who was found guilty earlier this month of drugging and sexually assaulting three women on separate occasions is still waiting to find out when he’ll be sentenced.

A sentencing hearing for the accused, Sohil Bindra, was expected to be set Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court, but the matter was adjourned until May 31 after the judge was told the Crown and defence were still trying to schedule a suitable time for the hearing.

“We’re just attempting to get some dates together for sentencing,” confirmed Crown Prosecutor Dawn Janecke.

Judge Jerry LeGrandeur found Sohil Bindra guilty May 3 of administering a drug to the women so he could assault them. A fourth woman also accused Bindra of sexual assault, but LeGrandeur dismissed the charge.

LeGrandeur said the women’s testimony during trial last year was credible, while Bindra’s was not, and although there was no direct evidence showing Bindra drugged the women, the similarity of the assaults and the amount of evidence against him removed all doubt.

Bindra, 35, sexually assaulted the three women between 2018 and 2020. The accused denied the allegations, and testified during his trial in November and December that all the women consented to the liaisons.

One of the women testified Bindra assaulted her in his vehicle in the Spring of 2018, and he was found guilty of sexual assault and administering a noxious substance.

Another woman testified Bindra sexually assaulted her after he gave her and a friend a ride home from a bar in February of 2020. He was found guilty of housebreaking and commit sexual assault, and administering a noxious substance in relation to that woman. He also faced a charge of sexual assault – in the form of an unwanted kiss – in relation to the woman’s friend to whom he gave a ride home, but LeGrandeur said the Crown did not prove the absence of consent, and the charge was dismissed.

A fourth woman told court during the trial that she was too drunk to drive home to Taber following a work Christmas party in December of 2018, and was sexually assaulted after Bindra allowed her to stay the night at his westside home. Although Bindra said she was coming onto him, she testified she did not consent and told him no. He was found guilty of administering a noxious substance and sexual assault.

Bindra was also found guilty on two drug charges; one for possessing cocaine and the other for possessing the substance he used to drug the women.

Bindra is scheduled to face two separate sex assault trials later this year in relation to two other women.