A Brampton man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman while she was clearly too intoxicated to consent has fled to Pakistan before he could be sentenced.

In fact — as court heard for the first time Thursday — this is the second time Moazzam Tariq, 29, has fled to Pakistan to avoid jail time while on bail.

“Had we known his history he would have been put in custody immediately,” Ontario Court Justice Mara Greene said incredulously, adding that Tariq likely would not have been granted bail at all on the sexual assault charge had this information been available to the Crown.

“On the record that we had, there was no way we could have known Mr. Tariq would have absconded. On the record that we now know it was a foregone conclusion.”

Through an apparent failure to update the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC), the central database used to look up criminal records, the Toronto Crown office and Toronto police were not aware that Tariq was charged by Peel Police in January 2010 with dangerous driving causing bodily harm — and that he fled to Pakistan in September 2010 while on bail with his father Mohmood Tariq as surety.

Tariq was arrested attempting to re-enter Canada in September 2011.

“According to the occurrence report he told officers when he was arrested at Pearson that he left Canada to avoid jail on his outstanding criminal charges. He told them he spent the last year in Pakistan as well as various countries in Europe,” Crown prosecutor Jill Witkin told the court.

Tariq was charged with failing to appear and robbery, and promptly released on bail again two days later to his father and a second surety for $25,000.

Tariq pleaded guilty to dangerous driving in July 2012 and all other charges were withdrawn. He got a 90-day jail sentence to be served on weekends and 18 months probation.

After his sexual-assault trial, in a lengthy decision based in large part on shocking surveillance videos, Greene found Tariq raped the victim while she was extremely intoxicated and incapable of consenting, shortly after they met at a downtown Toronto nightclub.

Tariq will be sentenced in absentia on Dec. 19. The Crown is seeking a sentence of three years. No submissions were made by Tariq’s lawyer.

Greene questioned Thursday whether Tariq’s father — who was Tariq’s surety again in July 2015 after Tariq was charged with sexual assault — was asked at the 2015 bail hearing what had happened when he acted as a surety in the past.

Mohmood Tariq only told the Justice of the Peace that, while Tariq was on bail for an assault charge, he committed a minor breach because he lived within 500 metres of a school, Witkin said. The bail condition was changed, Mohmood Tariq said, and there were no other problems.

(When the Star called Mohmood Tariq on Thursday he said, “Sorry, no,” then hung up the phone.)

Witkin said questions about Tariq fleeing to Pakistan when his father was a surety were not asked, because the Crown and duty counsel were not aware of those charges since they were not in CPIC.

“This happens sometimes,” Witkin said. “We continuously experience frustration when CPIC is not updated.”

When he left the country, Tariq was on a $10,000 bail and required to live with his father, his surety, in Brampton with a curfew of 10 p.m. He had to surrender his Pakistani passport after his conviction, but was permitted to remain on bail.

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Witkin said Thursday that Tariq used a Pakistani passport to leave the country on Nov. 18 — from Montreal to Qatar then to Pakistan.

The court and Crown first learned Tariq was missing last week when he did not show up at his sentencing hearing.

Tariq had actually been reported to have breached his bail on Nov. 24 when his father revoked his bail, court heard.

His father told police Tariq told him he was in Vancouver on business but would return for his court date.

A nationwide warrant for Tariq’s arrest was issued on Dec. 5, but by then he’d been out of the country for two weeks.

“Your Honour can make a reasonable inference that he will not be returning and will not be found prior to Dec. 19,” Witkin said.

Witkin told the court last week a hearing should be ordered to determine whether Tariq’s father should forfeit the $10,000 bail.

Communication between jurisdictions clearly needs to be improved, Greene said.

“I have found Mr. Tariq guilty of a serious personal injury offence that affects the core integrity of the human body. And the potential risk to others if he remains in the community, given his disregard for the legal system is really concerning,” she said.

“If there had been better communication mechanisms in place, if CPIC was updated properly we would not be in this position.”

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