Trial next year for man accused of assaulting two Kamloops women

Photo: Castanet Staff

A Kamloops-area man who blamed steroids for a pair of violent beatings that severely injured his girlfriend and his father is once again facing serious criminal allegations, this time accused of assaulting two women.

Isaac Willard, 29, is accused of assaulting two women on March 15 in Kamloops. He was in court last week setting a date for trial, which will get underway in Kamloops provincial court early next year.

Willard pleaded guilty in 2016 to charges stemming from two separate violent beatings in Chase, where he was living at the time.

Willard’s dad required reconstructive facial surgery and his girlfriend needed more than $6,500 in dental work after the attacks, which came two weeks apart in 2015.

Willard avoided jail, thanks in part to his defence lawyer’s assertion that a combination of steroids and booze was to blame for the violent attack on his father.

In April of 2015, Willard and his then-girlfriend were walking home from a pub in Chase, where they had been watching a hockey game, when he snapped.

He grabbed her by the hair and forced her to the ground, where he punched her in the face and kicked her in the ribs. Neighbours heard screaming and called 911.

Two weeks later, Willard flew into a rage after picking up his dad from a social event. Court heard the attack seemed to happen at random. Willard broke multiple bones in his dad’s face and broke the nose of a female relative who tried to intervene.

Willard was sentenced to 75 days of house arrest for the attack on his then-girlfriend, and six months of house arrest for beating his father.

In both instances, the sentencing judge made it clear to Willard that he was getting a break not going to jail.

Willard's trial on the new assault charges is slated to begin on March 25, 2022.