Raymond Burke was sentenced to 19 years in prison for sexual assault

Judge Sandra Nishikawa handed down her sentence in the trial before a judge alone in Toronto Superior Court on Monday afternoon. Considering the time served in protective custody, Burke’s remaining sentence is nine years and 11 months.

We need to speak out against brutal and heinous crimes in the strongest terms. It is wrong to victimize vulnerable young women and subject them to brutal criminal actssaid Judge Nishikawa.

Crown prosecutors originally sought two consecutive sentences, one of 12 years and seven months for the offenses against Angela English and second of 12 years for her crimes against Nicole Murdock, with credit for time served in pre-trial detention.

Burke abducted and brutally assaulted two women in separate incidents in southern Ontario in 1986, before fleeing to the United States and living under false identities. He was later arrested in Colorado for assaulting another woman in 1987 and spent several years in prison there, before being released on parole and deported to Canada in 2015.

A judge ordered the stay of proceedings against him in 2017 – allowing Burke to be free for some time – before the Crown appealed. The Crown won its appeal, triggering the start of a new trial.

We can be healed

In interviews after the sentence, Ms. Murdock and English both said they hoped for a longer sentence.

Our lives have been ruined all these years, and hers for 19 years.said Ms. English. Pretty frustrating.

However, Ms Murdock hopes their fight will help empower others who have been sexually assaulted.

Even though it took us 36 years, please use your voice, and don’t think you are worthless or unappreciated just because of what happened to you. Take back your powerhe says.

Both women also agreed that sentencing would help them reconcile with what happened many years ago.

We can be healedsaid Ms. English.

Si Ms. English at Ms. Murdock attended the hearing Monday surrounded by family and friends.