Serial domestic abuser from N.L. sentenced to 40 months for sexual assault in Ontario

A man from central Newfoundland could spend the next three years in an Ontario prison for a sexual assault on a former girlfriend.

Adam Budgell pleaded guilty to sexual assault, forcible confinement and choking, and on June 14 a judge in Welland, Ont. sentenced him to 40 months.

As part of the sentencing process, his victim stood in front of him and read a letter about how the rape affected her.

"He was sitting in the little box with his head down, crying like it really mattered to him," she told CBC News on Tuesday night.

His tears rang hollow for the woman, who thought she was going to die the night he attacked her.

Due to a publication ban, we cannot identify the victim, but have previously used the pseudonym Jenny Smith.

Lengthy record of abuse

In a previous story, the woman described her nightmarish encounter with Budgell on Oct. 21, 2018.

She said he came home drunk and began striking her in the head and choking her from behind. After she attempted to flee, he raped her.

"The criminal process is over but I know this is going to affect me from here on out," she said on Tuesday.

Budgell has a lengthy record in Newfoundland and Labrador, with at least seven convictions for assault, and at least two other convictions in Ontario for assaulting former partners.

The only way I was going to get justice was if I fought for it.- Victim of Adam Budgell

He's currently serving a sentence for assaulting a former girlfriend in Springdale, N.L.. The incident happened in 2016, but Budgell fled to Ontario and wasn't arrested until months after he returned to his home province.

Smith reached out to CBC News with concerns he would be released from jail in Newfoundland and not be returned to answer to the charges in Ontario.

Six days after that story was published, the Niagara Regional Police went to Newfoundland to pick Budgell up at the Bishop's Falls Correctional Centre.

Smith believes his transfer was due to public pressure after she spoke out.

"The only way I was going to get justice was if I fought for it," she said.

He pleaded guilty, avoiding a trial and sparing his victim from having to testify against him.

Serving federal time

Sentences longer than two years mean an inmate serves time at a federal prison. It also means he can be paroled after serving one-third of the sentence — in this case, a little longer than 13 months.

Smith hopes Budgell's record prevents him from getting an early release. Regardless of parole possibilities, she said the sentence is a relief.

"I feel better and I feel at the end of it, once I've done everything I need to do for my healing going forward, I'll be able to sleep knowing that all someone has to do is Google his name and he can't hide from the truth," she said.

Budgell will be registered as a sex offender for 20 years and ordered to undergo anger management and addictions therapy.

"As horrible as it may seem, I do hope that he gets help," Smith said. "I hope he tries to change his life."

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