‘I didn’t want to be the girl who didn’t say anything’

Victim of alleged group sex assault continues testifying in court

The former boyfriend of the victim in an alleged group sexual assault was left shaken and speechless when she appeared at his bedroom door “crying and shaking” in the early morning hours of Aug. 15, 2016.

“I’ve never seen her cry like that before — I’ve never seen anyone cry like that before,” said the 25-year-old Thorold man, who lives on his own and works in the wine industry.

“She said she had been raped by five guys. I jumped out of bed. I was angry. I was feeling enraged that something like that had happened to the girl I love. I was at a loss for words.”

He said he called his girlfriend’s mother and arranged for her to meet them at St. Catharines hospital.

The woman, who was 18 at the time, finished her testimony early in the day Tuesday after hours of being cross-examined by defence lawyers.

She testified her relationship with her boyfriend cooled in the emotional tumult surrounding the sexual assault allegations — though they are still friends and she continues to lean on him for support. They have been meeting for lunch during the trial.

The boyfriend was led through his testimony by Crown attorney Pat Vadacchino.

The woman was examined by a doctor at St. Catharines hospital before the boyfriend drove her to Burlington hospital to complete a rape kit.

The alleged incident stemmed from an alcohol-fuelled teenage house party on Chetwood Street in St. Catharines and ended in the back seat of a car in the parking lot of Monsignor Clancy School in Thorold.

Four Niagara Falls teens are charged with sexual assault and being party to the offence of sexual assault. All pleaded not guilty.

There were five teens in the car, court has heard.

The victim testified that she was extremely intoxicated after having downed a half-bottle of vodka and taken part in a shot-chugging contest.

She said she passed out in the back seat of the car as she tried to make her way from the house party to her boyfriend’s home in Thorold. She had asked the driver, who she considered a friend, for a ride. She didn’t know the other four teens in the car.

She was told the car was full but ignored that and forced her way into the back seat.

She insisted that she didn’t consent to any sexual activity in the car as it was parked at Monsignor Clancy, directly across the street from her boyfriend’s home. She testified that she had passed out, though she did regain consciousness for short periods during the alleged assault.

The boyfriend testified that his girlfriend called him after midnight that evening from the house party. She wanted a ride home after getting into an argument with her best friend. He refused to pick her up, though he offered to pay for a cab.

The boyfriend testified that he was already in bed and asleep when she called. He said routinely works 70 hours a week.

Hamilton lawyer Lauren Wilhelm, who is representing one of the teens, began the day by finishing her cross-examination of the woman. She told Wilhelm she initially didn’t want to go to the hospital to be examined or to the police to report she had been raped.

“Did they force you to go to the police?” Wilhelm asked.

“They encouraged me — but did not force me,” she answered.

“Why did you go to the police?” Wilhelm asked.

“I decided to take a chance and tell the truth,” the woman answered. “I didn’t want to be the girl who didn’t say anything.”

The defendants cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The name of the complainant is also protected under a court-imposed publication ban.

The woman testified she regained consciousness for the final time in the back seat of the car with her pants and underwear around her knees, and she wasn’t wearing any shoes. She said she jumped out of the car and screamed at the males to get away from her. They drove off, court heard, leaving her alone in a parking lot.

The woman was among about 65 teenagers at the party, which was attended by students from Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines and A.N. Myer Secondary School in Niagara Falls.

The trial before Judge Fergus O’Donnell continues today in St. Catharines.