CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — A Cuban man who assaulted a fellow inmate he said touched him in a sexual manner was sentenced recently to a further 40 days in jail.
Renier Lorenzo Perez Almeida, 31, appeared before Chief Judge Nancy Orr in provincial court in Charlottetown where he pleaded guilty to the assault at the Provincial Correctional Centre, as well as to breaching his probation.
Crown attorney Gerald Quinn told the court that Almeida, who lives in P.E.I., was serving time in the provincial jail in March when a supervisor there reported he was involved in an assault.
Video footage showed Almeida slapped the victim and knocked him to the ground where he kicked him while he was down.
Quinn said a second man stepped in to try to stop Almeida, who ended up assaulting him, too.
Almeida also punched a guard in the face who was trying to subdue him.
The court heard the victims had minor injuries from the assaults.
Defence lawyer Brendan Hubley told the court Almeida was in his cell prior to the assault and alleged one of the victims touched him in a sexual manner.
Almeida stepped out of his cell where he started gesturing and yelling to get the guards’ attention, Hubley said.
In an unrelated incident in May, the police found Almeida in a woman’s house despite a probation order that included a condition he not have any contact with her.
Orr sentenced Almeida in March to 30 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman.
With the 40-day sentence, Orr accepted a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence.
It included one year of probation, during which time Almeida is banned from contact with the victims unless he has his probation officer’s consent.
