Sex assault victim at sentencing hearing for Richard Mantha says she forgives him

One of three vulnerable women sexually assaulted by a man at a rural home near Calgary told a sentencing hearing Tuesday that she forgives her attacker.

The woman, who can’t be named due to a publication ban, said she still suffers anxiety and pain but hopes Richard Robert Mantha gets the help he needs to be a better person.

“I learned in my recovery how to forgive, and today I’m going to say I forgive Richard Mantha … for myself, not for him,” she said in court.

“I also am forgiving myself for allowing him to hurt me. However, I will never forget what he did to me. I have struggled on a daily basis to get through everything that I have experienced in the past.”

Mantha, 62, was convicted of six offences, including drugging one of his victims, between 2019 and 2023. He was also found guilty of uttering threats against a fourth woman.

Court heard most of the victims worked in the sex trade.

The woman who read her impact statement previously testified that she was drugged, choked and sexually assaulted after she greed to go with Mantha to his acreage east of Calgary. She was able to escape, running from the property partially clothed.

“I’ve gone through this experience with him in my head on a regular basis, not knowing whether or not I put myself in that position and whether or not it was my fault,” she said Tuesday, addressing Mantha in the prisoner’s box.

“I do know no one deserves what you put me through.

“I don’t know if he was hurt by someone in his life that created that thought in his mind that it was OK to treat anyone else that way. I know I’m not a judge. But if it were me, I’d ask him to get some serious counselling, if he thinks what he did to me was OK. “

Crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin said Mantha deserves a prison sentence of 10 to 13 years.

“It is an attack upon the sense of security, autonomy and self worth of the victim,” she told Justice Judith Shriar. “The impact of the case must be considered in light of the particular vulnerabilities of each complainant.”

Mathurin said Mantha preyed on those with difficult personal challenges, including the woman who read her impact statement.

“She had to grab the piece of wood, swing it around to keep him away from her. And what is aggravating here is that as she’s living the worst moment of her life — he’s laughing,” she said.

The trial, which started in January 2024, faced several lengthy delays because Mantha fired previous lawyers and had a stroke.

The defence was to deliver sentencing arguments later Tuesday.