A federal penitentiary is where Dale Ferguson will spend the next three years of his life after he attacked a woman during an altercation and left her outside the city.
Ferguson, 47, appeared in Moose Jaw Provincial Court recently, where he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault with a weapon. He was originally supposed to appear in Court of Queen’s Bench — now known as King’s Bench — for a trial by judge and jury, but a resolution between the Crown and defence returned the matter to the lower court.
The incident occurred around 3 a.m. on Aug. 11, 2018, in the Moose Jaw area, where a woman was walking on the 300 block of Caribou Street East when Ferguson offered to give her a ride home, explained Crown prosecutor Rob Parker.
Instead of taking her home, he drove her outside the city to a rural area, where he sexually assaulted her by ripping off her clothes inside his truck.
“She was able to jump out of the window and escape, but he got out of the truck holding a window ice scraper and threatened her to get back in the truck,” Parker continued.
Ferguson then drove the woman to another rural location and sexually assaulted her with his hand, the Crown prosecutor added. The woman escaped, hid in a field, and later walked back into Moose Jaw, where she called the police from her home.
As part of his guilty plea, Ferguson will spend the next three years in federal prison — likely Prince Albert. He must provide a DNA sample, be entered into the national sex offender registry and be prohibited for 10 years from possessing firearms or weapons.
