Witness tells of massages, sleepovers while a teen at home of former fire chief
The first witness in the sexual assault trial of former Kingsville fire chief Bob Kissner testified about stripped-down massages and teenager sleepovers at the chief ’s home, but also spoke about his own suicide attempt, a broken marriage and the hatred that followed. Asked several times in court Thursday by assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Holmes why he never told anyone about Kissner’s alleged sexual advances at the time or in the years that followed, the complainant replied: “He was the fire chief ... he was a very known figure within the community, a teacher, a public figure.” The complainant, the first of eight alleged victims expected to testify at the three-week trial, described himself as just a teenager who “couldn’t speak very well,” while Kissner, who was also a teacher, church organist and choir director, was “very charismatic” and a leader in the community.
“I didn’t think I’d be believed.” Thursday’s start of the Superior Court trial came after three days of closed-door pre-trial motions before Justice Pamela Hebner. The judge imposed a publication ban on the names of the eight accusers, all men, as well as a ban on reporting any information that may identify them.
The first witness testified that part of the reason he didn’t say anything at the time, when he was still in high school, was for fear of having others say “derogatory” things about him. Going through a rough patch with his parents, he described Kissner as a father figure and mentor, someone with whom he could discuss personal issues, including religion and girls. The sleepovers were approved by the complainant’s parents, and they would sleep in separate beds, he said. He testified about waking up one night with Kissner next to him rubbing his genitals. He said it made him “very uncomfortable.” He said he was invited for baths in Kissner’s ensuite Jacuzzi-style tub where he received and gave massages.
“Did he ever ask you if you wanted this?” Holmes asked.
“I don’t recall,” said the complainant, testifying about alleged activities from more than 15 years ago.
“Did you ever say, ‘Don’t do it?’ ” Holmes asked.
“No,” the complainant replied. Defence lawyer Ken Marley begins his cross-examination of the Crown’s first witness on Friday. The complainant testified he decided to come forward after news in December 2016 that the Ontario Provincial Police had arrested and charged Kissner for sexual assault. Other complainants soon came forward, and Kissner now faces 17 criminal counts — 11 for sexual assault, five for sexual exploitation and one for sexual interference — involving eight alleged male victims as young as 16. Kissner, 62, remained in custody for three days following his initial arrest until being released on bail. Before his arrest, Kissner was regarded as a pillar of the Kingsville community, having been involved in Epworth United Church since 1990, where he served as organist and choir director. He had been a teacher at a Christian academy in the Ruthven area and a college instructor.
Before becoming Kingsville fire chief, Kissner headed Leamington’s fire department. He was suspended in Kingsville following the first charges and retired in February 2017.
The trial’s first witness said that in 2009 with his first marriage breaking up and a suicide attempt that had left him hospitalized, he returned home over Christmas and told his then wife, “I’m finally going to confront him.”
He met Kissner at his office. He said the chief cried and apologized. “This is your pass,” he testified telling Kissner at that point, warning him he would “come forward” if he ever heard of anyone else. “He said I was the only one, it wouldn’t happen again.”
He said the sexualized encounters (he estimated there were “eight or more” at night and over school lunch hours) left him unable “to function in a normal way.” “I had to convince myself I wasn’t homosexual. I hated homosexuals,” he said, adding he cheated on his first wife.