Cop’s alleged victim too embarrassed to speak up

Woman says Mountie assaulted her 6 months into their relationship

A Kelowna Mountie sexually assaulted his girlfriend while she was sunbathing, the alleged victim testified Tuesday.

The woman said she was laying on her stomach when she felt Chad Vance force himself on top of her. She said Vance removed her bikini bottom and assaulted her despite her pleas to stop.

“I told him over and over again to get off me, but he said nothing in return,” the woman, who cannot be named, said under direct examination from Crown counsel Tim McKelvey. “I couldn’t move, couldn’t even turn my neck. He’s a strong guy.”

Vance has pleaded not guilty. At the outset of the trial, court heard proceedings were scheduled to last four days.

Vance and the woman had been in a relationship for about six months by the summer of 2015, the time the sexual assault is alleged to have occurred. The woman contacted police in early 2019.

During her initial statements to police, defence lawyer Trevor Martin noted, the woman said she had immediately ended the relationship with Vance after the alleged assault.

In fact, the woman agreed under crossexamination, she and Vance had continued to talk, text, and meet occasionally, for more than a year after the alleged assault.

Asked specifically about her statement to police she had ended the relationship with Vance in the summer of 2015, she said: “I guess it wouldn’t be true,” adding that she was embarrassed by the ongoing contact and so did not initially divulge it to police.

Some time after the alleged sexual assault, the woman went to a health clinic and reported she had been attacked. But she did not seek medical treatment, follow up with the counselling that was offered, or report the matter to police until January 2019.

Court heard the only other witness likely to be called during the trial was the healthcare worker who interviewed the woman.