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Man gets five months for beating infant, pregnant partner

"I deserve to be punished because I did something stupid"

GREG YOUNGER-LEWIS

Kooyoo Pudlat, who punched his infant son and pummeled his pregnant partner in a drunken rage, got five months in jail after arguing that he should receive a reduced sentence because he was sexually abused himself as a child.

Kooyoo Pudlat, 37, told the court on July 6 that he wanted to be punished for the most recent beating he gave his common-law wife, but rejected the Crown attorney's arguments that his own past of sexual abuse should not be a factor in his sentence.

Wearing a dark blue t-shirt and black sweatpants, Pudlat stood up before his sentencing and apologized to Judge Beverley Browne for his multiple attacks on his wife and son.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Pudlat said, raising his head periodically. "I deserve to be punished because I did something stupid.

"As to what the Crown said, I don't think they're right. She's never been through what I've been through."

Crown attorney Myriam Girard had asked the judge to give Pudlat a stiffer jail sentence of up to one year in order to send a message to Nunavut. She said the case should be an example that using past abuse at the hands of a child molester was not "an excuse" for later beating up people and getting into trouble with the law.

"I think there's a point where being a victim of [this child molester] is not an excuse anymore," Girard said. "It seems. . . [abuse at the hands of this child molester] is a get-out-of-jail card from a Monopoly game."

Pudlat's latest conviction stems from two separate assaults on his wife this year.

The couple were arguing in their home around noon on March 22, after Pudlat's partner made jealous accusations. She was pregnant and their three-year-old daughter was watching from nearby.

Pudlat began punching his wife in the head. She tried to defend herself, grabbing a kitchen knife and cutting him.

Pudlat didn't stop swinging, even when his wife shielded herself with her 16-month-old boy. Pudlat punched the baby, and when his wife later tried to run away, the baby fell out of her amautik to the ground. Girard pointed out in an interview after the trial, that the baby's injuries were not serious.

Police arrested Pudlat, and released him on the condition that he keep the peace.

Three months later, on June 11, Pudlat was drunk when he saw his wife come home from a fishing trip "with somebody," and without their infant son.

He yelled at her to get back in the house, and beat her up again - this time biting, punching and kicking her, and eventually hitting her numerous times with a telephone. He also elbowed her and pulled her hair.

The beating left his wife with a closed black eye, swollen lip and heavily bruised face. Pudlat claimed to have been so drunk that he didn't remember the fight.

Girard noted that Pudlat had already served jail time for beating his wife and five other people in Cape Dorset in December.

Judge Browne sentenced Pudlat to a total of five months for the two assaults, followed by 18 months probation where he must continue with counselling for his past sexual abuse, and remain sober.

Browne said she had "no choice" in her decision.

"Nobody gets a free ride because of what happened to them in the past," she told Pudlat. "My job is to protect your family. I'll try to provide you the tools. But ultimately, it's up to you what kind of life you want to provide for you and your kids."

During the case, both Girard and Pudlat's lawyer, Greg Nearing, speculated that Pudlat could be prone to doing the same thing again.

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