High River woman recounts alleged rape

Tells court ex-husband beat her up

AHigh River woman says her ex-commonlaw husband and the father of her three youngest children burst into her home unexpectedly two years ago when she was letting out her puppy, dragged her into her bedroom, repeatedly punched her and raped her.

The woman testified on Monday that she had broken off the relationship about three months before the incident on April 19, 2010, and had an emergency protection order to prevent the 37-year-old man from attending at her home.

She said she received numerous text messages and phone calls from the accused all through that day, as she usually did, and she ignored some and answered some.

However, the 30-year-old woman said, he began to get angrier in his tone about 8 p.m., so she ceased any correspondence with him.

“When I was at the threshold, he plunged into the house, grabbed the dog and threw it,” the woman told Crown prosecutor Sarah Stewart. “I was in his grasp. Then he let go of me with one hand so he could shut the door and lock it.

“I was dragged downstairs by my hair and told to take my clothes off. So I did. He was screaming at me the whole time. He told me to lay down on the bed.”

The witness said he began to sexually assault her, while she was yelling: “No! Don’t! Please stop!”

She said she resisted and squirmed and pulled on his goatee, prompting him to repeatedly punch her in the face and body with a closed fist.

“After the first punch, it didn’t stop,” she said. “His fist was constantly punching me. At that time, he took both hands around my throat.”

At some point, he took her upstairs and hid all of her phones, then went back downstairs and continued the assault.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the iden- tity of the complainant, has pleaded not guilty to all six charges, including aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, unlawful confinement, choking with intent, and break and enter to commit aggravated sexual assault.

When the man finished the sexual attack, the woman told court, he was going frantic and panicked.

“I don’t know what was going through his head, but he was concerned about me calling the cops,” she said.

“He kept on saying, ‘Wipe off your . . . face,’ ” she said. “I said to him, ‘You did this, you should see it.’ ”

The woman said when he finally left the home, she couldn’t find a phone, so she took pictures of herself and her numerous bruises on her computer and put them on Facebook.

She quickly got a response and her father picked her up and took her to hospital in High River. She then went with her mother to the Sheldon Chumir Centre in Calgary.

The trial before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Karen Horner continues.