A young man from Maple Ridge and found guilty of a brutal rape will undergo a psychiatric assessment before being sentenced.
Provincial court judge Deirdre Pothecary ordered the evaluation Friday for Mitchell Pratt, who pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm in August.
The 20-year-old has been held in a provincial men’s prison since he was arrested in March 2010 for sexually assaulting a woman, in her early 20s, on Lougheed Highway.
During the attack, which took place between 11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. near the Alouette Animal Hospital, a man walked past, but did not stop to help, despite the woman’s pleas.
“She asked for help, but nobody helped her,” said Crown prosecutor Andrew Blunt, adding that identification by the victim played a big part in getting Pratt to plead guilty.
Judge Pothecary believed psychiatrist testing was necessary in Pratt’s case.
“He is only 20, so we are missing information that would be of use,” she told the court.
“I want to get a better picture of Mitchell.”
By coincidence, the judge has dealt with all of the four Pratt siblings, who are cousins’ of Darnell Darcy Pratt, a 22-year-old man convicted of killing a Maple Ridge gas station attendant and who is currently on the lam from police.
“I want the testing done because I’ve had a report on a couple of your brothers who had very different outcomes,” said Judge Pothecary.
“I am very worried about you and your brothers and I want to see that each of you gets the very best that can be obtained for you.”
Pratt is scheduled to return to court in December.