Sentencing delay for Vancouver man guilty of child sex attacks
Confessed attacker fires third lawyer at Friday sentencing
A former political campaigner who pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault against young girls managed to get another adjournment in B.C. Supreme Court Friday.
Ibata Noric Hexamer, 44, was arrested two years ago on suspicion of having committed violent sexual attacks on four young girls — the youngest being just 6 years old.
Hexamer pleaded guilty to six charges laid against him, and his sentencing hearing was to begin Friday.
But just as the sentencing hearing began, Hexamer's lawyer, Patrick Fullerton, rose and informed Justice Laura Gerow that he had just been "discharged."
Hexamer rose and said he wanted a new lawyer. Hexamer said he disagreed with the statements of fact, and felt badgered into appearing in court with Fullerton, who was his third lawyer in this trial.
The Crown called the request "bizarre" and Justice Gerow called it "unusual."
A man in the public area of the court was ejected after swearing at Hexamer and telling him to "burn in hell."
In the end, Hexamer got another adjournment, and a new lawyer.
Court will reconvene next week to set a new date for a sentencing hearing.
A 'monster' since 1995
Hexamer was once a low-level political operative, and worked on the civic election campaign for Vancouver's COPE party in 2005. He also worked as a database manager for the federal NDP in Vancouver Center, in 2006.
He was arrested in 2010 and originally charged with 23 counts for three alleged offences in Delta, Surrey, and Vancouver dating back to 1995. In each of the attacks, the victims were threatend with a knife.
Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu, who characterized the suspect as a "monster," said he left DNA evidence in all three crimes.
Hexamer pleaded guilty to attacking a 13-year-old girl in a stairwell at Vancouver's Lord Nelson Elementary School, in 1995.
He also pleaded guilty to a second attack, eight years later, which involved two 14-year-old girls in Delta.
Hexamer also pleaded guilty to the unlawful confiment of a six-year-old Surrey girl in 2009.
With files from the CBC's Terry Donnelly and Chad Pawson