Teen testifies taxi driver sexually assaulted her

A 65-year-old Happy Valleygoose Bay man was on trial this week for allegedly sexually assaulting and threatening a 14-year-old girl two years ago.

Joseph Cooney is charged with sexual interference, uttering threats, sexual assault and forcible confinement.

The alleged victim, who is now 16, said that on June 2, 2017, she was walking home just before 11 p.m. when Cooney approached her in a vehicle and offered her a ride home. She knew who he was, she said, because some of her friends had told her that he was interested in her, and she knew him as a taxi driver in the community.

He asked how old she was on the drive, she said, and asked if she was a virgin. When she told him that she was 14, he didn’t say anything, she said.

The age of consent in Canada is 16.

She said he then took her to his house and sexually assaulted her. She asked him to stop, she said, after it had begun and he did.

“I said, ‘I got to go home,’ and he touched me again,” she told the court. “He kissed me and he was shaking my hand. He said, ‘I trust you,’ and he said he will kill me if I tell anyone.”

She said she then went home and showered, and told her family the next day about what happened.

Cpl. Sebastian Pelchat, the RCMP officer who was in charge of the investigation, said that when police went to speak to Cooney on June 4 he knew why they were there.

“He said it was probably about a young girl that was always hanging out at his place, asking him for money and wouldn’t leave him alone,” Pelchat told the court.

Pelchat said they then arrested Cooney, who was cooperative, and took him to the detachment.

Cooney’s lawyer, Ed Montague, is going to cross-examine the alleged victim, and has a couple of witnesses to call in Cooney’s defence.

The trial was scheduled to end Thursday, but due to technical issues there was not enough time allotted to call all witnesses.

The case is scheduled to return to court Wednesday to set a date for the remaining witnesses to testify.