Three men found guilty of confining girls in SUV

A Queen’s Bench judge SASKATOON has convicted three men of confining two girls in an SUV and trying to rob them as they drove around.

Justice Ronald Mills found Robert Caissie, Gary Cote and Christopher Cathcart guilty of two counts each of unlawful confinement and two counts each of attempted robbery on Friday, following a trial in Saskatoon last month.

Mills said he believed the teen girls’ testimony that they were hit and repeatedly told to hand over money they didn’t have after a man made them get inside an SUV in which they had been passengers earlier on the night of Sept. 4, 2016.

The victims said a man made them remove their bras to ensure they weren’t hiding anything.

One girl said she feared for her life when a man she later learned was Caissie allegedly told her, “I don’t think you’ll be awake by tomorrow.”

Cathcart was driving, according to the girls’ testimony. However, they differed on whether Caissie or Cote was the main aggressor.

Caissie’s lawyer, Erin Little, and Cote and Cathcart, who were selfrepresented, argued there were too many contradictions between the girls’ stories. Little suggested they lied to avoid getting in trouble for being out late.

There was no collusion or fabrication, Mills ruled. He said any inconsistencies between the stories would be understandable considering the frightening situation.

The girls testified Cathcart picked them up to go “cruising” and stopped at a house party. When the girls left the house, two strange men were outside Cathcart’s SUV, accusing them of taking money.

Police stopped the vehicle later that night. Cruiser surveillance video showed Caissie and Cote emerge from the back seats, where the girls said the men were roughing them up.

Mills found Cathcart was the driver and continued to drive around as “part of the overall scheme” to keep the girls confined.

Sentencing is scheduled in May.