Teen recounts alleged sexual assaults by her former boyfriend’s stepfather

Editor’s note: This story contains graphic sexual content. Reader discretion is advised

A South Okanagan teenager took the witness stand in court Tuesday to recount alleged sexual assaults by her exboyfriend’s stepfather when she was 15.

The accused, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban imposed to protect the identity of the complainant, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault, sexual interference and inviting a person under the age of 16 to sexual touching at the beginning of his trial in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton.

Crown counsel Ann Lerchs called the Crown’s only witness, the girl, who is now 17.

She recounted two times where she engaged in sexual activity with the man.

The complainant’s boyfriend would sometimes use her cellphone to call or text his stepfather, she testified, and the accused started texting her directly around November, 2015.

He would ask how the girl was doing, saying his stepson was “lucky to have a girl like you,” she said.

The first alleged sexual incident occurred after the complainant had asked the accused to purchase some marijuana for her. The girl accompanied the accused on a trip to Penticton sometime in early 2016 to pick up the drugs. When the two returned to the complainant’s home in rural South Okanagan they decided to smoke a joint in his vehicle on a forestry road near the girl’s house, she said.

“It started with asking if either he could kiss me or if he could perform oral sex with me. I said ‘no’ at first and then I believe he was just saying something like ‘it’s not a big deal, nobody needs to know,’” the complainant recalled.

“I didn’t know what to do because he kept imposing it on me. So I just kind of let it happen. I was worried, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was in a vehicle with him up a hill and nobody around me. So I just let it happen.”

The man performed oral sex on her and had intercourse without a condom with her in the vehicle, the complainant said.

The girl said she would “put on an act” afterwards when encountering her then-boyfriend’s stepfather while hanging out with her thenboyfriend and his family. She said the accused would give her a wink or smirk sometimes.

“I didn’t want anybody to know. I felt... gross inside,” she said.

She described another incident a few weeks later when she was late for school and unable to get a ride, and ended up asking the accused.

She told the court the accused pulled off of the route to the school and to a viewpoint area, where they smoked a joint, and he asked if they could “play around again.”

She rebuffed him, but ended up giving in to the accused’s sexual advances, she said, and sometime later brought the matter to police after the accused had cursed at her for not responding to his texts, she said.

“I couldn’t handle keeping it inside,” she added.

The trial is expected to continue today in Penticton with defence counsel Paul Varga presenting evidence.