A man who went on a spree of violent attacks in July and August of 2009 has been sent to jail for more than nine years - on top of the four he's served - and deemed a long-term offender.
The designation means he will be closely monitored for 10 years after he gets out of jail.
Justice Barry Davies handed the sentence to Sean Richard Funk, 39, last month following a series of hearings in B.C. Supreme Court.
Funk was sentenced after pleading guilty to six offences, including several violent attacks on women.
In B.C., those included threatening a woman at a tanning salon in North Vancouver, then progressed to violent sexual attacks on strangers in both Squamish and Ladysmith and holding up a gas station on the Island Highway.
After he was arrested, Funk also confessed to violent crimes he committed that summer in Manitoba.
Psychological assessments entered in the sentencing hearing painted Funk as a "moderate to high risk" for sexual violence in the future, fuelled by his need for power and control, substance abuse and unresolved issues towards women.
Funk's violent spree started July 1, 2009 in Winnipeg when he approached a 19-year-old woman working at a gas station with a knife and demanded money. She handed over $200.
Two weeks later, on July 13, 2009, Funk went into a tanning salon in Winnipeg with a knife and demanded cash from the 26-year-old woman who was working there. He then ordered her into the laundry room and sexually assaulted her.
A few weeks later, on Aug. 7, 2009, Funk walked into another tanning salon - this time in North Vancouver - and demanded cash from the lone female employee. He took off. But his violent attacks weren't over.
On Aug. 27, 2009, a woman was sleeping alone in her car in the parking lot of a recreation centre near Squamish, when Funk smashed the car window in, hit her and drove her to a wooded area where he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.
On Sept. 26, 2009, Funk broke into an unlocked home of a stranger in Ladysmith at 3 a.m. Once in the house, Funk made his way to a woman's bedroom, choked her and forced her to have sex before she was able to grab her cellphone and scream for her daughter to call 9-1-1. On Oct. 17, 2009, Funk held up the Petro Canada gas station on the Island Highway, demanding money from the 21-year-old woman working there.
Funk's victims were traumatized by his attacks on them. One woman indicated "she no longer feels safe in any situation in which she does not have an escape route," according to court documents, while another said she no longer walks alone after dark.
Funk was eventually caught in November 2009, when a woman in Regina - who had learned through media reports that police were looking for Funk - called police to say he was living with her daughter.
Funk's troubled childhood included alcoholic parents and a home life characterized by violence, poverty and drug abuse.
After he was arrested in Regina, he told police, "I feel bad. I never wanted to do this stuff. .. none of it was planned."
Crown counsel Nicole Gregoire asked that Funk be declared a dangerous offender, which would have allowed him to be locked up for an indeterminate length of time. But Davies ruled Funk's sexual violence appears to have been triggered by substance abuse and severe depression. That could likely be treated with "medication and intensive counselling," he determined.
Davies decided Funk should be declared a longterm offender instead.
