A Surrey judge has granted a woman a conditional discharge with 30 months probation after she pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm against her girlfriend.
The court heard Tricia Monsalud assaulted Danica Ricci between Feb. 27, 2025 and March 1, 2025. They had been in a relationship since 2023.
Judge Michael Libby in his reasons for sentence noted that a suspended sentence would result in a criminal record whereas a conditional discharge “that later becomes absolute through compliance with conditions will not.”
“In my view, the deterrent effects of a conditional discharge are also supported by the fact that where an accused on conditional discharge is convicted of another offence during the probationary period, including the offence of failing to comply with a probation order, the conditional discharge can be revoked, the accused convicted, and a sentence imposed,” he concluded.
Libby noted that on Feb. 27, 2025 the couple had an argument that culminated in Monsalud biting Ricci on the forehead, kicking her in the back three times and giving her a black eye. Then, on March 1, 2025 Monsalud shoved Ricci against a kitchen countertop, leaving a scar on her back.
“Ms. Monsalud also choked Ms. Ricci and hit her head against the floor while holding her hair,” Libby noted, “causing a chunk of Ms. Ricci’s hair to be ripped out.”
“While on the floor, Ms. Monsalud squeezed Ms. Ricci between her legs, which made it difficult for Ms. Ricci to breathe. Ms. Monsalud then spat on Ms. Ricci.”
Ricci went to hospital on March 1, 2025, Ms. Ricci attended the hospital, where injuries including “extensive bruising and abrasions, consistent with blunt force trauma, pressure and friction, as well as pain and redness at various parts of her body, and a laceration to her back” were documented.
“Hospital staff noted approximately 50 bruises or abrasions on Ms. Ricci’s body,” the judge noted.
The Crown argued for two years’ probation, submitting that the “violent nature” of Monsalud’s crime, along with the statutory aggravating factor of intimate partner violence. The defence argued for probation between 18 and 24 months.
“During submissions, I raised the idea that some of the deterrent effect that might be lessened by imposing a discharge could be balanced through a longer probationary period. No real issue was taken with this prospect,” Libby noted in his reasons.
Monsalud, 28, has no prior criminal record. She came to Canada from the Philippines in 2015 and studied criminlogy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University for two and a half years. “She left school at that time due to struggles with her mental health,” Libby noted.
“I have ultimately concluded that a fit and proper sentence for Ms. Monsalud is a conditional discharge with a 30-month period of probation. This period is appropriate given, among other things, the impact on the victim and the additional protection the order will provide to her, as well as the potential for meaningful rehabilitation for Ms. Monsalud,” he concluded.
Libby said he acknowledged the “very real, prolonged, and significant emotional, mental and physical impacts of the assaults on Ms. Ricci. I have been told through her first and second Victim Impact Statements, and I accept, that the actions of Ms. Monsalud have had profound and long-lasting effects upon Ms. Ricci, and that she continues to live with related trauma, physical reminders of the assault, and has ongoing fears for her personal safety.”
He said Ricci “made it clear that she was unable to forgive Ms. Monsalud.
While she “did not specifically refer to vengeance or revenge in her victim impact statetments,” he noted, “it is understandable that a victim of a violent crime may have these in mind.”
In saying this, the judge said, “I am not suggesting that Ms. Ricci is seeking vengeance. That said, it is always important to bear these observations in mind in a case such as this – particularly given the significant effects of the assaults upon her.”
Libby said Monsalud has “most recently” been employed as a security guard at the immigration detention centre in Surrey (2022-2025) and at BC Children’s Hospital from 2025 to the present.
“I am told that a criminal conviction could result in the loss of her security worker license which in turn would preclude her from the type of employment she has been engaged in since 2019 – something which has provided her with not only income, but also stability and a sense of purpose.”
A psychological report before the court identified Monsalud as a moderate risk to reoffend without intervention or management, which she has sought through a clinical counsellor. “It strikes me that her mental health issues likely played a significant role in the subject offence,” Libby found.
She is to have no contact with Ricci and has been in “a stable relationship with her spouse, to whom she has been married since 2025,” the court heard.
Libby noted that Section 730 of the Criminal Code provide statutory authority for a conditional discharge to be granted if the court decides it’s in the best interests of the offender “and not contrary to public interest.”
He found that while the crime and its aftermath are serious he couldn’t conclude the assaults were planned out. “While I do not intend to suggest that this makes them any less significant or less impactful on the victim, I conclude that they came about impulsively and that Ms. Monsalud’s mental health struggles likely played a role in them.”
Among her probation conditions, Libby said, Monsalud “must not go to or be within one kilometer of any place where Danica Ivana Ricci lives. In addition, you must not go to or be within 100 meters of any place were Danica Ivana Ricci works, attends school, worships, or happens to be. If you see her, you must leave her presence immediately without any words or gestures.”
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