Kohl Elder pleads guilty to sexual assault

Kohl Elder has pleaded guilty to the sexual assault and unlawful confinement of a young girl in Regina two years ago.

The now 21-year-old met the then 17-year-old because she wanted to buy a cellphone from him.

But things quickly turned sour when he pulled a knife, made threats and forced her to drive around the city.

After continued threats to her life and her family, he made the girl drive to an area on the outskirts of town when he raped and strangled her.

The girl only managed to escape the attack because she watched a movie where someone pulled the emergency release latch in the trunk to escape. She did the same when she thought the car was at a red light.

“You broke me for a while,” the girl said, as she tearfully read her victim impact statement to the court. “But then I got up.”

The girl tearfully told court of how her life as changed since the attack. She has suffered vivid nightmares of him, is scared to be alone with men bigger than her and has panic attacks.

Kohl stood in court and apologized.

“I hope you can live a normal life and maybe forgive me.”

His DNA was found on both of the swabs taken of the girl and inside the car.

The defence maintained Kohl was under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs at the time. He also pleaded guilty to defrauding another man of $130 when he advertised a cellphone. 

The attack began on the evening of Oct. 13, 2015 and lasted into the early hours of Oct. 14.

The Crown and defence jointly applied for a seven-and-a-half year sentence. Two years of that has already been served on remand.

The judge will decide the sentence on June 14.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story indicated Kohl Elder pleaded guilty to kidnapping. He pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement.