Accused admits rough evening

Sex was consensual, drug-fuelled man says in his defence

Aman accused of confining and sexually assaulting a Princeton woman denied her version of events at trial Wednesday.

The 35-year-old man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban protecting the complainant’s identity, is charged with sexual assault, simple assault and forcible confinement.

His trial began Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton.

Testifying in his own defence, the accused admitted there was an argument that got somewhat physical in his residence on Nov. 10, 2016, but denied there was any non-consensual sex.

The accused said he had heard through a friend the complainant was putting up profiles on dating sites and text messages.

At the same time, he admitted, he had been sending her text messages in which he threatened to kill himself due to the breakup of their relationship.

On the night of the alleged sexual assault, the accused said, their relationship was “friends with benefits.”

He said he delivered some cocaine to the complainant out of his personal stash that night and the two exchanged text messages, including one from the accused that said “OK, I want a f---king kiss for doing this,” to which she replied, “no.”

He said through multiple phone calls made that night an agreement was struck.

“She was going to pay or put out ... I don’t mean that disrespectfully.”

Another text from the accused read: “If I’m buying then I would like something in return lol.”

“You’re talking about sex there? What are you talking about?” Crown counsel Nashina Devji asked under cross-examination.

“Anything. Back massage, whatever,” the accused replied.

“So you’re saying you want a back massage or anything? Would an apple have been enough?” Devji said. “Yes,” the accused said. A text from the complainant that evening read: “I won’t come over because every time I do you hurt me.”

She relented and later arrived at the accused’s house around 11 p.m. The two split about six grams of cocaine that night and had consensual sex prior to an argument, he said.

“We had sex, ran out of drugs and she got really pissy, pardon my language,” the accused said.

He testified a “big bickering match” ensued between the two around 6 a.m. with the complainant attempting to leave.

The accused said he did block her efforts to leave the house, running back and forth between two exits, hoping to prevent her from making noise outside the house, and later “bear hugging” her and falling to the ground.

“While we were having our dispute she tried to run out the door. Like I said, I wanted her to be quiet. I told her she could gladly leave as long as she was not going out the door yelling and screaming and waking everybody up,” he said.

The accused said he put his hand over her mouth and turned her head, which he said “caused the teeth to puncture the lip” while he was applying “not a lot of force, but some.”

The two eventually “gave up” after a while and went to bed, he said.

Court heard the two had entered into a peace bond five months before the incident after he was charged with assaulting her, but she later dropped a no-contact condition between the two.

The trial is expected to conclude Thursday with closing arguments.