A Whitehorse man who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a Yukon College student last year was sentenced to 25 months in a federal penitentiary.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Leigh Gower handed John Carter White, 39, his sentence Friday morning, giving White credit for the time he had served since a jury convicted him in February.

White, who had hoped for a conditional sentence to be served in the community, has said he plans to appeal his conviction.

The court was told that the former student, who admitted to having crack and alcohol addictions, was working on earning his high school diploma at Yukon College at the time of the incident.

On March 16, 2007, after partying with some other students in downtown Whitehorse, White escorted a 21-year-old female classmate back to the student residence, the court was told.

The court learned that the woman awoke from her drunken stupor to find her clothes had been removed and White was sexually assaulting her.

Prosecutors had lobbied for a three to four-year sentence for White, arguing that rapes against passed-out victims are far too prevalent in Canada's North and need to be denounced with heavier sentences.

In making the Crown's case in April, prosecutor Noel Sinclair said the sexual assault rate involving unconscious victims is 21/2 times higher than the national average in the Yukon and up to five times higher in the Northwest Territories.

But on Friday, Gower said he was in no position to create special categories of sexual assault when it comes to sentencing.

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