Winnipeg man convicted of sexual assault involving 3 teens given 13-year prison sentence

WARNING: This article contains details regarding sexual assaults and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A man convicted in the 2022 sexual assaults of two teen girls and a woman has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Last year, Michael Edward Bruce, 44, was convicted on multiple sexual offences involving three victims — two 13-year-old girls and a 19-year-old woman — who he contacted through social media using a fake name in Winnipeg in March and April 2022. 

The charges included luring a person under 18 and a person under 16 via telecommunications, obtaining sexual services from a person under 18, invitation to sexual touching, sexual assault and sexual interference.

Bruce pleaded not guilty to the charges. A child pornography charge was stayed by the Crown.

During his trial, court heard Bruce had sex with the victims in exchange for favours, including money, alcohol and a ride back home for one of the teenagers.

Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Sadie Bond says Bruce "exploited the power imbalance between himself and the victims," and that his actions demonstrated "intentional risk taking" and a "complete disregard for the victims' vulnerabilities."

"He made contact with the victims, he drove to meet them, he made deliberate choices, he was in control," Bond said in court Wednesday morning, according to recordings reviewed by CBC News. "He treated his victims as objects, dehumanizing them."

Bond reduced Bruce's overall 16-year sentence to 13 years in totality — a legal principle that is used to aggregate multiple sentences into a total prison term that is proportionate to the severity of a person's offences.

"I know this is a heavy sentence, [and] it's going to take you some time to absorb what I said, no doubt," Bond told Bruce at the end of the hearing. "You're a grown man. It's time to address the issues that you have in your life, and I wish you all the best in doing so."

Bond also ordered that Bruce be put on the national sex offender registry for the rest of his life. Other conditions included a 10-year communication ban with any children, excluding his son and daughter.

Bruce's lawyers argued for a six-year sentence.

A pre-sentence report revealed that Bruce is Métis and faced difficulties in his childhood, including housing instability, poverty, intimate partner violence against his mother, and the absence of any positive male role models in his life.

Bond said those factors had "some" mitigating impact on his offences.

Bruce's lawyers also argued that he's less morally responsible for his offences because he did not seek out children specifically, and mistakenly believed that his victims were older than they actually were, representing a "mere technical noncompliance with the law."

"With the greatest of respect to counsel, I completely reject this argument," Bond said.

Sex crimes 'hidden to those close to him'

Two of Bruce's victims testified in court last year. The third victim died in 2023.

The 15-year-old girl told the court she and a friend were bored one night in April 2022, so the friend led her to a home in Winnipeg's North End around midnight.

The girl said she and her friend met two other teens whom she did not know — including the 19-year-old victim — and drank alcohol with them.

The girl said her friend previously knew Bruce, who identified himself online as Eddie Brigance, and messaged the man via social media, offering him sex with one of the four girls in exchange for more alcohol.

The girl said the 19-year-old, who was heavily intoxicated, told them that she would "take one for the team" and meet with Bruce in his truck in order to get more alcohol.

That woman testified in court that she felt pressured by the other girls to get drunk and wasn't aware that she was agreeing to have sex with Bruce. When she got into his truck, the woman said she repeatedly turned down Bruce's sexual advances. 

Bruce drove to a grocery store parking lot and led her into the backseat of his truck, before he forcibly kissed her, took off her clothes and sexually assaulted her, she told the court.

Multiple character references for Bruce submitted to the court showed that the 44-year-old has many people to turn to for support, Bond said. While most of the letters described Bruce as caring and remorseful, she said others minimized his actions.

"These letters show that Bruce's offending behaviour was hidden to those close to him, and some of his references do not accept that he is responsible for the offences of which he has been convicted."

A psychiatric assessment found that Bruce presents an average risk to reoffend sexually, as well as a "tendency to repress, deny or minimize" his personal flaws and difficulties, Bond said. 

Bond said there is a chance of rehabilitation for Bruce.

"However, whether [he] is fully prepared to come to terms with the criminality of his conduct — and take the steps necessary to ensure that he never engages in such conduct again — remains to be seen."

For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.