Crown seeks 10 to 13 years for serial rapist Richard Mantha at sentencing hearing

Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of 10 to 13 years for 62-year-old Richard Robert Mantha at a sentencing hearing Tuesday, following his conviction on charges he sexually assaulted three of seven women.

Mantha was convicted in April on six counts after Justice Judith Shriar acquitted him on the majority of the 20 charges he originally faced. Of the convictions, three involved sexual assault. One assault involved choking and striking the victim with her cellphone.

At the hearing, one victim shared how the assault altered her life. She described fighting to survive during the attack and struggling in its aftermath with relationships, trauma, PTSD, and anxiety. "I don't even feel safe in my own home, workplace, or in public," she said. "I have struggled on a daily basis to get through everything I've experienced and every day moving forward."

The victim also detailed being arrested on minor charges after fleeing the scene and onto a highway, where bystanders found her. She said the ongoing court process — which has stretched years — has required her to repeatedly visit the trauma and delayed her healing.

Mantha was arrested on April 6, 2023, following a massive search of a rural property east of the city where he was renting a Quonset hut. His trial began in January 2024 but faced multiple delays, including one caused by a stroke suffered by Mantha four months into proceedings, which has left him unable to verbally communicate.

During final submissions, Crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin conceded acquittal on two of the seven alleged victims, including one who died before testifying. Mantha was acquitted of assaulting a second woman but convicted of threatening her.