Victim’s mom testifies

Editor’s note: The following story contains graphic content of a sexual nature. Reader discretion is advised.

The mother of an Oliver boy who’s alleged to have been sexually abused by a family friend took the witness stand Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton.

The accused, who can only be identified as T.B. under terms of a court-imposed publication ban, is charged with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching and sexual assault between June 2011 and August 2012.

His trial began Monday and is being heard by a judge alone.

The complainant’s mother testified her son and the accused began to develop a “big brother” type of relationship and grew closer as the young boy would sleep over.

She said the two would have overnight stays “almost every weekend,” but something changed in the spring of 2012.

The mother testified her son would start to ask if his younger sister could come along when he would visit T.B., which was notable because the brother and sister would normally fight like “cats and dogs.”

The mother said she also started to notice T.B. becoming more physically involved with her son over time as well. “It started to get more touchy-feely,” she testified. “Like there would be numerous places for (T.B.) to sit, but he had to be directly beside my son and in some way touching him, or have him sitting on his lap.”

She said instances like that happened “a lot” between January and April 2012, and she eventually confronted the accused, telling him a few times to “back off.”

The mother testified T.B. would get increasingly depressed when she began to say no to the overnight stays with her son. “He would constantly hound me,” she added. After completely cutting off overnight stays, the mother testified, T.B. reacted “angrily.”

The complainant testified Tuesday that T.B. showered him with gifts, which he threatened to take away if the complainant disclosed what was happening between them.

Sometime around September 2011, the complainant recalled, he masturbated T.B., after which T.B. ejaculated on his back.

Another time while they were showering together, the complainant continued, T.B. inserted his penis between the cheeks of the complainant’s buttocks.

The incidents came to light in March 2013 after the complainant, who had grown moody and reclusive, disclosed them to his parents.

The trial is expected to continue through the week, with the complainant’s mother set to finish her testimony today.