Teenager made up rape tale, accused tells jury

A teenager who reported to North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP that she had been raped by three men made the whole thing up, Peter Charles Leno said Friday in B.C. Supreme Court.

The self-represented Duncan man, who is charged with sexually assaulting the 15-yearold girl in 2003, did not call any witnesses or testify in his own defence.

But in his final submissions to the jury, Leno said the victim lied to police because she missed curfew at her foster home and was more afraid of having to do chores in the dark than being charged with lying to police.

Leno said a mistake was made when male DNA found on victim’s light blue underpants matched the DNA profile of a blood sample taken from him in 2016.

“I have no proof that there’s a problem with the DNA, but that’s a possibility,” Leno said.

The victim, now 30, has a history of drug and heroin addiction and tried to tell the jury she was feeling sick, Leno said.

“But she was sick from drugs,” Leno said.

“We all know when a heroin junkie is sick. They puke and they complain and they whine. She does have a rough life, because I lived in that area of the 7-Eleven in Duncan, and heroin junkies would steal clothes out of laundromats.

“Who’s to know if the underwear she was wearing are even hers. Who’s to say she missed curfew so many times, she stole the underwear out of the dryer,” Leno said. “I don’t have any evidence of that, but that’s a thought of mine.”

Leno appeared to get off track, talking about missing a court date and getting injured “trying to get to these outrageous court dates.”

“I depleted myself so badly that my feet were bleeding and I was exhausted and I had to jump through a window trying to evade people putting me in a hockey bag and put me in the lake because I was apparently being charged with assault.”

When he started talking about being set up for explosive thefts, Justice Keith Bracken interrupted.

“Mr. Leno, don’t talk about other issues that you have with the courts. Concentrate on what’s at issue in this case.”

Several times during his submissions, Leno mused aloud about the victim.

“Was I ever with B.M. 15 years ago, when I was 18 or 19 or 20 years old? I haven’t even done the calculations because I’m not going to put myself through that stress,” Leno said.

Leno said he was set up by police after being in a high-speed chase 10 years ago.

“I make a deal. I give them my DNA and two years later I’m on a DNA set-up to a closed case,” Leno said.

Prosecutor Jim Blazina told the jury the best evidence they have is the police video of the teen that was taken a few days after the 2003 sexual assault.

“You heard what she said and how she said it. … It had the ring of truth.”

The teenager had all the details about the car, how it pulled into the parking lot, where it parked, what people were wearing. Her evidence about losing her makeup, her sandal and her glasses is backed up by the police and witnesses who saw her crying outside the 7-Eleven that night.

Blazina recounted the evidence of Joanne Gleig, a retired nurse and former sexual assault examiner, who examined the 15-year-old.

Gleig recorded scratches on the girl’s left shoulder, bruises on the inside of both arms and three tears, diffuse bruising and an abrasion in her genital area.

The DNA evidence also proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Leno is one of the people who sexually assaulted B.M., said Blazina.

The estimated probability of selecting an unrelated individual at random from the Canadian Caucasian population with the same DNA profile is one in 1.1 trillion, he said.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Tuesday.