Sentencing begins for former St. FX football player convicted of sexual assault

Sentencing began Friday for a former St. Francis Xavier University football player who was convicted earlier this year on two counts of sexual assault, with the Crown and defence at odds over how the sentence should be served.

Omogbolahan (Teddy) Jegede, 25, and the two women he sexually assaulted were all students at the Nova Scotia university at the times of the attacks in 2022 and 2023. Both incidents occurred on the Antigonish, N.S., campus.

Both women gave victim impact statements. One spoke from behind a screen so she couldn't see Jegede. She said she has PTSD, depression, anxiety, agoraphobia and panic attacks.

The other woman didn’t attend court, but had the Crown read her statement into the record. She wrote of how she suffers from headaches, anxiety and nightmares. She said she had to give up her summer job because of the stress.

Her mother also delivered a victim impact statement. She described how her daughter went from being a happy, excited 19-year-old to someone who was anxious, emotional and socially withdrawn.

In court, Crown prosecutor Courtney MacNeil asked Justice Frank Hoskins to sentence Jegede to 27 to 36 months in prison for both offences.

"They were difficult assaults, every sexual assault is a very, very serious matter and we treat them with the utmost care at the Crown attorneys' office and the victims certainly poignantly and eloquently described the effects of the assaults on them in their statements," MacNeil said outside court.

Jegede's lawyer, Adam Rodgers, is proposing a sentence to be served in the community.

"On the duration of sentence we're maybe not that far apart, but the Crown is looking for actual jail sentence whereas the defence is recommending a custodial sentence, but to be