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Charges upgraded in Penticton forcible confinement, sex assault

Sex assault and simple assault have been upgraded to include more severe cause bodily harm
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A Summerland man’s sex assault and assault charges were upgraded in Penticton’s courthouse yesterday in a case involving forcible confinement. (Dustin Godfrey/Western News)

Charges against a 23-year-old Summerland man have been upgraded the case of forcible confinement, sexual assault and assault to include more serious counts on the matter.

Aaron Motz was arrested on Jan. 29 after a 22-year-old woman called Penticton RCMP the previous day to say she was forcibly confined the evening of Jan. 27 at a private residence.

Motz made an appearance in court Wednesday morning, intended as a bail hearing, but was instead confronted with a stay of proceedings on the initial charges and a slew of new counts.

Related: Man arrested and charged with forcible confinement and sexual assault

At the time of his arrest, police involved neighbouring local detachments in the search for the suspect, and Motz was arrested a short time later in Osoyoos.

“The man was arrested without incident. This was not a random incident, as the accused and victim knew each other,” police said.

Motz was initially charged with simple assault, sex assault, forcible confinement and uttering threats. Now, he’s facing the same charges, but with assault and sex assault both upgraded to include causing bodily harm.

Motz’ lawyer James Pennington asked that the matter be put down to next week to fix a date for a new bail hearing.

It isn’t clear what gave rise to the new charges — Cpl. Dan Moskaluk with the RCMP said he could not provide details, and Crown communications did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Motz, who appeared in the Penticton courthouse by video from Okanagan Correctional Centre, also intended to enter a guilty plea on a separate assault file from Oct. 4 last year, but that was put over with the rest of the charges.

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Dustin Godfrey | Reporter
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