PRINCE GEORGE, Canada (Diya TV) — A British Columbia Supreme Court justice sentenced a temporary resident of Canada to a period of house arrest for sexually assaulting a woman in 2024, declining to place him on the national sex offender registry after hearing the listing could affect his immigration status.
Karandeep Singh, 24, pleaded guilty on June 30, 2026 to sexually assaulting a woman on June 13, 2024, in Prince George. According to an agreed statement of facts read in court, Singh met the woman through her cousin the previous month. On the day of the assault, the woman had been communicating over Snapchat with someone she believed was Singh, though Singh later said the account had been used by a friend. The group made plans to go to West Lake Provincial Park for a bonfire but instead went to a basement suite near Ospika Boulevard. Singh’s friend brought the woman into a bedroom; after the friend left, Singh entered the room, removed his clothing and forced her into sex acts without asking for her consent. Singh later drove the woman and her cousin back to where they had been picked up, and the woman reported the assault to the Prince George RCMP the following day.
Singh was arrested the next day and gave a statement to police, largely in Punjabi, in which he acknowledged he had made “a mistake” because he did not ask the woman whether she wanted to have sex and did not take reasonable steps to determine her consent.
Justice Kevin Loo, presiding over the sentencing, noted that Singh has lived in Canada since 2023, has no prior criminal record, is married and works as a security guard at a Prince George hotel. Loo said the Crown’s sentencing submission — arrived at jointly with the defense — was lower than the normal range in part because of potential issues with the admissibility of Singh’s police statement, including questions of language and constitutional rights. The complainant cooperated with the Crown throughout the proceedings but expressed reluctance to testify at trial, which Loo cited along with Singh’s guilty plea as mitigating factors.
Under the sentence, Singh will be subject to a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the first 190 days of a probation period, is barred from contacting or being near the victim and other named individuals, must provide a DNA sample, and is prohibited from possessing firearms for 10 years. Loo declined to order Singh’s name added to the National Sex Offender Registry after hearing submissions that a listing could carry immigration consequences for Singh, who is in Canada on a temporary resident status.
