Defence claims complainant fabricated rape allegations against youths

Defendants present final submissions in sexual assault trial

A Niagara woman lied to police about being sexually assaulted by several teenage boys to save her relationship with her boyfriend and to protect her reputation, a lawyer said on Thursday.

“There is an obvious motive to lie,” Lauren Wilhelm told Judge Fergus O’Donnell in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines.

Wilhelm maintains the woman had consensual sexual activity with the males but later regretted it and fabricated rape allegations in order to deflect responsibility and ease her guilt.

Four Niagara Falls youths, who were between 16 and 17 at the time of their arrests and cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, have pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and being party to the offence of sexual assault.

The trial began in January and evidence wrapped up Wednesday. The defendants took the stand in their own defence.

The Crown contends the complainant was highly intoxicated and lapsed into unconsciousness and did not consent to any sexual activity.

The defendants’ lawyers presented final submissions to the judge on Thursday.

Wilhelm said her client, together with the other defendants, should be acquitted of the charges as the Crown attorney has failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The evidence is rife with discrepancies, rife with inconsistencies and rife with reasonable doubt,” she told the judge.

Lawyer Michael DelGobbo said the complainant has a “selective recollection” of what happened that night.

“She was making choices … perhaps drunken choices but she was making choices … perhaps regrettable choices, but she was making choices,” added lawyer Joseph LoConte.

Lawyer Patrick Little maintained the woman was not unconscious and “actively participated in what ensued.” He said the woman was driven by a combination of “alcohol, estrogen and adrenalin.”

Court has heard dozens of teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 attended the party in August 2016 at a St. Catharines residence.

The partygoers were made up of students from Denis Morris Catholic High School in St. Catharines and A.N. Myer Secondary School in Niagara Falls. The teens on trial were members of the A.N. Myer school football team.

The Crown will complete its final submissions April 13.