RED DEER, Alta. – A once-promising Saskatchewan saddle bronc champion described in rodeo circles as a “legend-in-the-making" has been sentenced to three years and seven-and-a-half months in prison for sexual assault.
Cody Robert Lane of Maple Creek, Sask., received the 45-month sentence on April 17 in Red Deer Court of King’s Bench after being found guilty. The assault occurred in June 2020, when the victim was just 19 years old.
Now 24, the woman told SaskToday on April 23 that she was relieved by the verdict.
“I am satisfied with the sentence but my main concern is making sure people know what he did. This process took almost 5 years of my life (from 19 to almost 24 years old) and there were so many times I felt like giving up, but the reason I reported it in the first place is to make sure he never hurt anyone again.
“Getting a guilty verdict for a crime like this is not easy, that’s why so many women do not report it, I want to make sure it’s known that it’s worth it to say something,” she added.
In a victim impact statement to the court, she described waking in the early hours of June 20, 2020, to what she initially believed was a nightmare—only to realize she was being sexually assaulted.
“The weeks after it happened, I didn’t want anyone to look at me,” she said. “I wore oversized clothes and tried to hide my body. I didn’t want to be around large groups of people I didn’t know. I became angry and resentful and I didn’t trust anyone.”
The woman spoke of how the assault wrecked her early adulthood.
"I was always told your 20s are the best years of your life, but mine have been spent processing trauma, battling depression, and isolating myself," she said. "For four years, I’ve been in a tug-of-war, trying to convince myself I’m okay—only to be snapped back to reality."
She also detailed the anguish the toll of the almost five-year legal process took on her life.
“Words cannot begin to describe how absolutely soul crushing it was to endure the anticipation of this trial and having it adjourned to 10 months in the future. The weeks following this court date I was not myself, I was retraumatized and depressed. I could not believe that my rapist would walk free for almost another year after waiting three [years] since he assaulted me.
“This journey has been excruciatingly painful," she added. "At times, I've questioned whether enduring the trial was even worth it. It has been a relentless roller coaster of healing followed by being re-traumatized as the case progressed. But I made a promise to myself that I would stand up for not only me, but all of the women in my life who've endured sexual assault in silence. I refuse to let him get away with this and hurt someone else in the future, because someone that could hurt me the way that he did would without a doubt do it again. I put my life on hold and ended my travels early to come home for the second trial. The anticipation of attending court in person was gut wrenching and absolutely terrifying. I have never experienced such intense anxiety and fear."
Despite the emotional toll, she said she testified in court on April 2, 2024, enduring hours of questioning while reliving the assault.
“The idea of outlining the disgusting details of what Cody did to me to a room full of strangers was beyond mortifying. But on April 2, 2024, I stood for hours reliving the horrors of what Cody did to me. I answered multiple degrading questions, some regarding the state of my underwear when it was taken for evidence. I felt Cody watch me as I detailed how he violently violated me and hurt me and traumatized me. I stood there as his lawyer tried to pick apart my story and convince everyone that I was too drunk and it was all 'just a bad dream.' As if I had created this trauma all on my own. It was almost laughable if it wasn’t so sad.”
Though the scars remain, she said the guilty verdict has allowed her to begin healing.
“The day you were pronounced guilty, the weight you forced me to carry began to lift," she said in her victim impact statement. "I reclaimed my power, and my voice. And while this is not the life I chose, I am so incredibly proud of the woman I have become in spite of you.”
Lane will serve his sentence in a federal penitentiary. He received a six-day credit toward his sentence for time served in pre-trial custody.