Friend testifies teen charged in sex assault admitted fondling woman

A man who confronted two Niagara Falls high school students the day after his friend said she’d been raped by three men testified one of the teens admitted to fondling the 18- year- old.

In Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Tuesday, the 19- year- old told court he met with two teens in Niagara Falls to ask them to address accusations they assaulted his friend following a birthday party in St. Catharines.

The St. Catharines man said the duo initially denied having any involvement with the woman, saying the intoxicated woman had simply asked them for a ride home from the party.

As he continued questioning them, he told court, they began to appear scared and their version of events changed.

He said one teen admitted to touching the woman’s breasts but insisted he had “asked permission first.”

The witness said the second teen later said, “I knew we were f-- ked after she came- to and asked who the f-- k we were.”

Four teens, who were all 17 when they were arrested, have each pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault and being party to the offence of sexual assault.

The defendants, students at A. N. Myer Secondary School at the time of their arrest, cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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

The witness, who cannot be named to protect the complainant’s identity, said the alcohol flowed freely at the outdoor party on Aug. 13, 2016, which was attended by students from Denis Morris Catholic High School and A. N. Myer Secondary School.

“There was a lot of drinking going on,” he said, adding everyone was “hanging out, having a good time.”

The witness said his friend became extremely intoxicated in a relatively short period of time. She told him she wanted to be left alone so he helped her inside her vehicle, which was parked in the driveway of the home, and took her car keys.

Asked about her level of consciousness, he replied, “she was not all there.”

He said the teens from Myer “always had a cup in their hands,” but he didn’t think they were intoxicated when they left the party.

Not long after they left the party, the witness learned his friend had also left. He went to the front of the house and saw a black car driving away.

“She was in no condition to get in a car with anyone … to make that judgment call,” he said.

He called her cellphone several times but the calls went unanswered.

About 2: 45 that morning, court was told, he received an Instagram message from the woman’s boyfriend, saying she told him she’d been raped by three men.

The trial continues today before Judge Fergus O’Donnell.