Court martial hears about ‘tickle parties’

A court martial for a Manitoba-based soldier on a sexual assault charge involving another soldier has heard about so-called tickle parties in the forces in which an unsuspecting member is held on the ground, tickled and slapped.

The trial, which began Thursday at Canadian Forces Base Shilo for Cpl. Robin Gobin, was told soldiers at the Manitoba base regularly engaged in such activity during an infantry training course in Wainwright, Alta.

Gobin — a member of 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry — is accused of assaulting a fellow battalion soldier in December 2014.

A defence witness, retired soldier Cody Huttinga, said a group of soldiers would tackle unsuspecting members and, in some instances, pull their pants down and rub a heating cream between their buttocks.

The complainant testified he did not recall such activities during his time in Alberta but said he was forcefully penetrated while clothed on the last night of the three-and-a-halfmonth exercise.

Gobin testified that he slapped his accuser on the backside numerous times as a harmless greeting, but rejected the allegation that it went further than that.

Huttinga, who was the defence’s first witness, said teasing during the training exercise happened “all the time,” name-calling “hourly almost,” homophobic slurs levelled by “just about everybody” and butt-slapping “wasn’t out of bounds.”

“Everybody seemed to take it quite well,” he said. “It was just the nature of the job.”

The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified that he experienced physical discomfort for a year after the alleged incident. He said he did not report it immediately or seek medical treatment because he was embarrassed.