Justin Hudson's lawyer says judge delivered fair sentence for brutal 2014 sex assaults

The defence lawyer representing the man who sexually assaulted ateen and a woman in Winnipeg, leaving the former for dead along the AssiniboineRiver before attacking her again, believes the judge delivered a "fair"sentence, given her client's abusive and "neglectful" upbringing.

Justin Hudson, 22, was sentenced to 23 years in prison on Monday for two brutal sex assaults on Nov.7, 2014that left a teenage girl and a woman with serious emotional and physical injuries.

• 23-year sentence for 2 'brutal' sexual assaults in Winnipeg

"It's not altogether unexpected and reflects the fact that this was a very, very serious offence that was committed by Mr. Hudson," said Amanda Sansregret, who represented Hudson in the case.

"Having said that, he is the product of an extremely tragic upbringing. But I agree with the sentencing judge in that that only mitigates to a certain degree the fact that there were very tragic consequences for both victims in this case," she said.

The Crown asked for a life sentence at a hearing last year, while the defence sought a sentence of 12 to 14 years.

Provincial Court Judge Tim Killeen said a lengthy sentence, but not a life sentence, was justified for Hudson.

"His background, his limitations, his history of being abused and neglected, lead to a conclusion that his responsibility has not risen to the point where a life sentence is needed," he said.

"I think the judge did a good job of balancing the competing interests that he had to take into consideration in coming to the quantum of sentence that he did," said Sansregret.

'A tragically horrifying life'

"Mr. Hudson came from an extremely neglectful upbringing, an abusive upbringing, and obviously had some significant cognitive disabilities that the sentencing judge had to take into account when doing the balancing that a court has to do in determining what the appropriate sentence is in a case like this," she added.

• Man in brutal sex attacks a 'poster child' for child welfare failures: defence

She did not want to comment further on the details of his childhood and upbringing, but is confident that all the necessary reports and details from Hudson's history were presented as exhibits to the court for consideration.

"The abuse was lifelong. Throughout his entire childhood he was neglected, he was abused, and he's never been in a supportive family environment or anything that could even begin to be described as a supportive family environment," she said.

"There are a lot of offenders that have difficult periods. This young man just had a tragically horrifying life."

Compounding that,she said, was the fact that the Child and Family Services system continually placed him in unsafe homes.

"He's really the poster boy for the failure of Child and Family Services to protect him. They were involved from the get-go and they let him bounce between inappropriate placementback to his mother's inappropriate environment. He was never raised in a safe or appropriate environment," she said.

"Child and Family Services should take a long hard look at his record and determinewhat mistakes they made and what mistakes they shouldn't make, going forward."

The Child and Family Services department has not yet responded to a request for comment from CBC.

• 'Dark. Cold. Pain': Crown asks for life sentence at Justin Hudson hearing

Hudson had expected a lengthy sentence, according to Sansregret, and had "no reaction"as Justice Killeen delivered it on Monday.

"He's just really anxious to put this behind him and move on to the next phase of his life, which will be a lengthy period of incarceration," she said.

"He's really young and my hope is that he'll get the help he needs in the institutional setting, and will no doubt spend considerable time in and go forward."

'They'll have a long healing process'

Hudson's co-accused, who was a minor at the time, and the two victimscannot be named under a court order.

But Sansregret said the elder of the two victims always greeted her in court, frequently asked about her well-being and consistently demonstrated an unexpected warmth.

"She was always extremely polite and friendly and clearly, in her mind, didn't associate his defence team with the accused and his actions," said Sansregret.

"You don't see that kind of grace very often in victims."

Crown prosecutor Debbie Buors, who had requested a life sentence, declined a request by CBC to comment.

Sansregret said although she believes it's a tragedy for everybody, she wishes both victims well.

"They'll have a long healing process and I hope that it's of some assistance to them to know that he'll be separated from society for a lengthy period of time, and the hope is that he gets the help that he needs while he's incarcerated."