A Calgary maintenance worker previously convicted of rape has pleaded guilty to breaking into a woman's apartment with the intent to sexually assault her.

Phillip Allan Skulnec was charged in February 2017 after his victim woke up in the middle of the night and saw him crouching in the corner of her bedroom.

Skulnec and the woman both lived at the apartment complex where he was employed as a caretaker. After the break-in, police found keys to all the units in his apartment.

Prosecutor Pamela McCluskey and defence lawyer Rebecca Snukal made a joint submission for a one-year sentence, plus two years of probation which was accepted by Justice David Gates.

The victim had become friends with Skulnec after he did some work on her apartment soon after she moved in.

Although Skulnec wanted to date the woman, she had a boyfriend and made it clear she was not interested in that kind of relationship.

Skulnec at victim's bedside

The night of the incident, Skulnec had shown up at her door and she invited him to a pub with some of her friends but went home alone at the end of the night. She locked her door and went to sleep.

Around 4 a.m., the woman woke up to find Skulnec crouched beside her bed.

"She yelled at him, 'get out, get out, get out,'" reads the agreed statement of facts.

The victim swore and threatened to call police, but Skulnec said: "Don't do anything, OK. I'll leave."

Skulnec then left and was arrested at his apartment hours later.

Previous rape conviction

In December 2007, armed with a machete, Skulnec followed a woman to her home in Edmonton, where he forced his way in and tied her up. For hours, Skulnec raped the woman and subjected her to other "demeaning acts."

In 2013, while serving a sentence for that kidnapping and rape, he was denied parole after being deemed a moderate to high risk to reoffend.

The Parole Board of Canada also found Skulnec to be "hostile towards women" and lacking empathy, according to documents obtained by CBC News.