A Wallaceburg sex assault victim is shining a spotlight on what she considers to be a lenient sentence that the courts handed her abuser and the disregard for public safety she believes was shown by the judge.
The woman, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, said she was cornered by her boss in a backroom at the Days Inn in Wallaceburg on May 25, 2018 while she was an employee at the hotel, adding that he then grabbed her leg and tried to kiss her. The man who assaulted her -- Manish Patel -- pleaded guilty to sexual assault in March of this year, and was sentenced to 90 days house arrest on April 26, 2021. He was also sentenced to 12 months of probation, he must provide a DNA sample, and he is banned from owning or possessing weapons for five years but continues to manage the hotel while serving his sentence.
The victim doesn't think that should be allowed to happen.
"It's just slap on the wrist. I don't feel like it's really stopping him from doing it again. He can just continue on like he was. Nothing happened for him," said the woman. "People who are unaware, someone comes from out of town, they don't know and I honestly don't think anyone would voluntarily stay at a place where they know there's a sexual offender."
The woman said she left work after her shift ended on the day of the assault and reported it to police. She told the officer she was scared to return to work the next day but claims she was just told to be careful, adding that no police report was filed. She said she continued her employment at the hotel for another year because she needed a job, but said things got creepier as time went on. She said she was fired when she reported the sexual assault to police again, adding that the second time she reported the incident, she filed an official police report.
The woman said the sexual assault made it difficult for her to trust and build relationships.
"He would constantly tell me it's our secret, just be quiet -- and things just got worse," she said. "A boss is somebody you should be able to trust. Never in your life would you think that's somebody you should be on guard for. It's difficult to know who you can and can't trust. It's also a small town, so I'm constantly worried about running into him or seeing him. I have PTSD, I have flashbacks of it. I don't know why he gets to live in secrecy. I'm not going to be silenced."
The sex assault victim said she also feels let down by the justice system for only giving her abuser 90 days house arrest and 12 months of probation. She is frustrated it took as long as it did to resolve the case, and added she believes the judge wanted to keep Patel out of jail because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patel answered the phone at the Days Inn in Wallaceburg on April 30, 2021 when called by Blackburn News, but refused to comment, citing directions given by his lawyer to not discuss the case with anyone.
The Days Inn in Wallaceburg is part of the Wyndham Hotels and Resorts chain in the U.S., but Wyndham has not responded to requests for a statement and has not said if it plans to take any action against Patel.
The victim said she reported the sexual assault to Wyndham Hotels and has a file with their legal department but she doesn't believe they will do anything.
"I got a [Twitter] message from them basically telling me it's not their issue and to contact the Labour Board," she said. "They definitely know because I've had the file with them for quite some time. I just spoke with them not that long ago. They won't tell me anything on the file, all they'll let me do is add notes to the file."