Canadian navy sailor jailed for violent sexual assault on B.C. military base

Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, near Victoria, B.C., is shown in this undated file photo.

Warning: This story contains a description of a violent sexual assault.

A Canadian navy sailor who brutally raped a woman on a British Columbia military base has been sentenced to three years and eight months in federal prison.

Following a five-day trial, a jury found 23-year-old Hayden Chokrev-Evans guilty of sexually assaulting, choking and suffocating a woman he met on a dating app.

The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified that she met Chokrev-Evans on Tinder and the two began messaging each other before meeting in person in Nanaimo on Oct. 11, 2022.

They spent time at a mall and a park before the woman agreed to visit Chokrev-Evans in Victoria that weekend. The accused admitted he misled the woman into believing he was interested in a long-term relationship when all he wanted was "quick sex," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Carla Forth wrote in her sentencing decision.

The woman arrived at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt the following Saturday afternoon and visited Chokrev-Evans in his dorm room. They watched three episodes of a Netflix series about serial killer and sex offender Jeffery Dahmer before Chokrev-Evans said he was leaving to go work out at the gym.

When he returned, the woman asked him how his workout went, but he did not respond, the court heard. Instead, he grabbed her and forced her onto the floor.

'She felt she was losing consciousness'

The judge wrote that Chokrev-Evans began to sexually assault the victim while hitting her on both sides of the head until her vision went "black and blurry" and all she could hear was ringing.

He put his hands around her throat, lifting her to her feet and throwing her onto the bed, where he continued the assault.

"She felt like she was being strangled and that her throat was collapsing," Forth said. "He also placed a pillow on her face and pushed down on it. She felt she could not breathe. She tried to get the pillow off of her by hitting him so she could get some air."

The attack continued. Chokrev-Evans said nothing as he grabbed the woman's hair and slammed her head into the wall. "She felt she could not hear or see anything," Forth said. "She was confused and disoriented. She felt like she was losing consciousness."

Following the assault, Chokrev-Evans showed the victim photos of naked women on his phone, the judge said.

The victim was too scared to leave the room until the next morning when she drove back to a friend's house in Port Alberni, B.C.

Chokrev-Evans admitted he later showed a photo of the woman to a friend at lunch before sending her a text saying: "It sucks u left my buddy wanted to hit it." He agreed the text referred to his friend wanting to have sex with the woman.

"I pause to comment that (the woman) is not an object to be offered by Mr. Chokrev-Evans to his friends for their sexual pleasure," Forth wrote.

Chokrev-Evans also sent the woman an article about a woman who stabbed and strangled her Tinder date, which the victim interpreted as a threat to her.

The woman went to work on Monday with bruising on her neck and arm, a lump on the back of her head and reported having difficulty speaking, breathing and swallowing.

She admitted to trying to hide her injuries with makeup, but when she broke down crying she was told to go to the hospital and later reported the assault to police.

She testified in a victim impact statement that the assault was deeply traumatizing, leaving her depressed, isolated and disgusted when she looked in the mirror.

"Most concerning, she began to self-harm after the assault and has needed time, counselling, and medication to cope," Forth wrote. "She struggles with trust issues. She continues to be fearful of being alone at night."

'Little prospect of rehabilitation'

The Department of National Defence confirmed Chokrev-Evans served in the rank of sailor third class until May 15, when he was released from the Canadian Armed Forces.

After completing high school, he attended basic training in Shearwater, Nova Scotia, before he was stationed at CFB Halifax. After six months, he requested a transfer to CFB Esquimalt, where he was hired as a marine technician engineering roundsperson.

At trial, Chokrev-Evans did not acknowledge his guilt or express any remorse for the victim, the judge wrote.

"I am concerned that Mr. Chokrev-Evans has little prospect of rehabilitation as he has shown a total lack of understanding of the impact or seriousness of his behaviour," Forth said. "He continues to maintain that he did nothing wrong and has, in his words, 'no feelings' for what happened."

He told the court he intends to stick to dating "blonde-haired and skinny women" and will stop having relationships with people he is not attracted to, which the judge said "indicates to me that he lacks all insight on how to avoid such a situation in the future."

Forth concluded Chokrev-Evans's actions "were vile, violent, degrading, and harmful" and "merit a significant sentence of institutional incarceration."

He has been in custody since Feb. 21. With credit for time already served, his remaining sentence is just over three years and three months in prison.

If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:

If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety, you should call 911.

A full list of sexual assault centres in Canada that offer information, advocacy and counselling can be found on the website for the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres.

Helplines, legal services and locations that offer sexual assault kits in Alberta, B.C., Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia can be found here.