Credibility of teen is targeted in sex attack court case

A defence attorney launched an attack on the credibility of a teenaged girl who alleges that she was sexually assaulted by four people at OC Transpo Blair Station in 2013.

In an intense cross-examination Friday, defence lawyer Natasha Calvinho pointed out that while the girl — who was 15 at the time of the alleged assault — said she rarely drank and smoked marijuana, dozens of her own online posts painted a different portrait.

“Again, posting this, you’re showing everybody that you enjoy smoking marijuana?” Calvinho charged.

“Kind of,” the girl, now 17, replied.

Then, after showing an online photograph of her drinking beer, the lawyer declared: “Another example of your rare drinking?” Right, the girl answered. The court heard about dozens of her online posts, mostly about drugs, alcohol and sex.

In her cross-examination, Calvinho also established that the girl lied about her age in a profile on a dating website.

“You’re telling everyone on the Internet that you’re 19, and that’s a lie?” Calvinho pressed. “Yep,” the girl replied. Warsama Youssouf, 21, Maher Fafayi, Christian Kadima and Hanten Hersi, all 22, are on trial charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and forcible confinement. All have pleaded not guilty. Calvinho, who represents Hersi, also established that the girl couldn’t say for certain who tore off her red underwear on the morning in question, Aug. 11, 2013.

The girl told police that she was followed, then attacked at the transit way and nearby bushes. She screamed, “This is rape” and “Leave me alone,” court heard.

Defence lawyer James Harbic, who is representing Fafayi, noted in court that the alleged victim was trivializing sex in online posts just four months after his client was arrested in the case.

“She’s laughing at all of us and the person who’s paying is my client. (She’s) trivializing what she’s alleging against my client,” Harbic said.

“She’s not trivializing rape,” prosecutor Lisa Miles fired back.

The trial continues on Monday before Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger.