Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

Details of a sexual assault emerged publicly for the first time last week as one defendant in the case received sentencing in a Cornwall court.

Christopher Jocko, 25, of Cornwall Island was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in the gang rape of a Syracuse woman. Though it’s a hefty sentence by Canadian standards, after hearing details of Jocko’s crime some say it’s not long enough.

While the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service released limited information throughout the investigation, full details of the incident were withheld until now.

On Dec. 8, 2006 the victim was enjoying a night out with a good male friend and four other men. At closing, the group went to Cornwall Island. The date-rape drug gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) was administered to the woman and she was dragged from the car by her hair on the Island’s east end at an outdoor location. At one point the men threatened to drown her in the St. Lawrence River.

She was then taken to an apartment where two of the men raped her while the others watched and laughed, court documents said.

The men terrorized the woman for several hours in all and she was finally able to flee from them half-naked. She was rescued by a school-bus driver who had students on board on their way to school.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police were contacted and attended hospital with the traumatized victim.

During Jocko’s sentencing Madam Justice Heidi Polowin said the victim has been emotionally and psychologically devastated by the event. She called the event a night of terror.

Jocko’s apology to the court was not taken seriously. He will receive 52 months off his sentence for time served since his arrest.

Another defendant in the case, Brian Montgomery of Syracuse was sentenced in December to 27 months in prison for his role in the incident, which included forced oral sex. He was also found guilty of drugging the victim.