A 59-year-old Lethbridge man has admitted to breaking into a home and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last November.
Police were called to a home at about 5:15 a.m. on November 7, 2016 after receiving a 911 call indicating that a teen had been sexually assaulted in her home by an unknown male.
Investigators determined that the man entered the home through a basement door sometime between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. and approached the sleeping girl.
The offender prevented the girl from screaming and waking other members of the household while he sexually assaulted her.
Police arrested a man who matched the offender’s description a short time later.
Darral Gerard Courtoreille was charged with housebreaking, sexual assault and sexual interference.
Courtoreille has previous convictions for sexual interference involving girls under the age of 14 and in 2006, Lethbridge police issued a high risk offender warning saying he represented a significant risk to re-offend.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in a Lethbridge court but the judge in the case has yet to accept the plea.
Psychiatric and psychological reports have been ordered as well as a risk assessment.
Courtoreille will be back in court in April.
