A man found guilty of breaking into a Richmond woman’s home and sexually assaulting her in 2001 has been sentenced to five years in prison.
In her Oct. 23, 2023 conviction decision, Justice Nitya Iyer said she was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of Christopher Sharafi's guilt, saying his evidence lacked credibility.
Iyer said the woman, A.B. (Glacier Media has changed her initials to protect her identity), was hosting a bachelorette party to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a close friend. After meeting at her home, the group travelled to a downtown Vancouver restaurant and then a few of them moved on to the Dufferin Hotel bar where they stayed until closing time.
The events happened on Dec. 2, 2001, Iyer said in her May 30 sentencing decision.
After arriving home, A.B. went to bed and fell asleep quickly.
She awoke to find a strange man standing by her bed. There was a struggle and he punched her and pulled her off the bed, Iyer wrote. He then sexually assaulted her, the court heard. He stayed for a bit following the sexual assault and then left.
A.B. ran to a convenience store and called police. She was taken to hospital where a DNA swab was taken.
“She was terrified, as evidenced by her running out of her home barefoot and partly dressed on a winter night,” Iyer said before passing sentence. “Her physical injuries were painful. She did not live in her home again, had trouble being alone, and took a three-month disability leave from her job.”
The ruling noted A.B. had small children at the time. It said she had not dealt with the psychological impact of the offences and found the trial re‑traumatizing.
The offences
Police said the man entered through a window with a broken interior latch in the laundry room.
In 2015, while Sharafi was incarcerated on unrelated matters, police obtained an order to take a sample of his DNA. The DNA matched A.B.'s sample and Sharafi was charged in 2020.
Iyer said the central issue in the case was whether or not A.B. met Sharafi at the Dufferin Hotel and had consensual sex with him.
He testified he was visiting friends in Vancouver’s West End and met A.B. at the hotel. He said he started chatting with her at the bar. He said she allowed him to buy her a drink after which they went outside.
He testified they soon went to his van and had sex.
“He said that when she saw he had not worn a condom, she became angry and said, ‘How do I know you’re not HIV+?’ He said that he responded, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I am HIV+,’ even though that was not true. He said that she ‘lost it.’”
Iyer said with the passage of time, one would expect Sharafi’s memory to be poor.
“Instead, his recollection of certain details was strikingly clear. This undermines his credibility,” she said, calling some of his testimony evasive.
Moreover, Iyer said, if Sharafi’s account were credible, A.B.’s friend would have noticed her absence from the bar.
She said A.B. would have been dishevelled after such an encounter.
“She would also have shown visible signs of emotion, having just learned that she had had unprotected sex with person who was HIV+,” Iyer said. "Again, it is not conceivable that her close friend ... would have failed to notice any of these things.”
Iyer wrote A.B.’s inconsistencies in some parts of her testimony “does not cause me to doubt the credibility of her denial that she met Mr. Sharafi at the Dufferin and had sex with him.”
“No one suggested that she would have forgotten such an encounter and it is not conceivable that she would have done so,” Iyer said.
“These fundamental flaws, together with Mr. Sharafi’s lack of credibility cause me to reject his explanation of how his DNA ended up in (A.B.)’s body that night.”
No remorse
Iyer said Sharafi's moral culpability was high, and that he had expressed no remorse as he denied the offences.
“He committed these offences at a time when he was engaged in considerable criminal activity,” Iyer said. “As tracked by his convictions, that pattern had started in 2000 and continued through 2016. His conduct over those years shows that his mindset was one of no concern for the safety or well-being of others.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
- In an emergency, call 911
- In a crisis, call 1-800-563-0808
- To report a person under 19 who needs protection to the Ministry of Children and Family Development, call 310-1234 (no area code required)
You can find a full list of resources on the B.C. government’s website.
