Whitehorse taxi driver to be sentenced for sexual assault

A Whitehorse cab driver who sexually assaulted a drunken passenger will have to wait until the new year to find out how much longer he'll be jailed.

Prosecutors want the Mexican driver sent to a federal penitentiary, then deported back to his home country.  

It was a year ago this month a 22 year old woman reported she had been drinking heavily and remembered little of the night she was raped by the cabbie.

At trial earlier this year Rodrigo Moreno Torres, age 41, claimed the sex was consensual, but Judge Michael Cozens found his story unbelievable.

Crown prosecutors now suggest a four-year jail term is warranted. They say cabbies are in a position of trust as they are expected to safely escort intoxicated passengers.

The man’s defence lawyer says a sentence under two years is sufficient.

Torres is in Whitehorse on a special work permit. As a non-citizen, he faces almost certain deportation back to Mexico, but lawyers say if the sentence is under two years, that deportation order is appealable.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 10.