A Revelstoke man has been found guilty of sexual assault which occurred in March of last year.
D.G.A, as he is identified in court records, was 42 at the time of the incident, was convicted in Revelstoke provincial court. He will appear before a judicial case manager in early July to schedule the sentencing.
Last Wednesday, Judge Dennis Morgan summarized the case and his decision.
The victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was drinking at a hockey game and later at a bar in Revelstoke on March 7.
Though witnesses said she was talking with the accused at the bar she testified she had no recollection of doing so, and that the man was a complete stranger to her.
She estimated she had nine or 10 beers that evening.
At the end of the night, the victim and her group of friends went to D.G.A.’s apartment to continue partying.
Less than 10 minutes after arriving, the victim’s friend found her vomiting in the bathroom. She was incoherent and unable to walk on her own.
With the help of D.G.A, the friend moved the victim to the guest bed.
The friend said the victim “became dead to the world and there was no way of waking her up,” the judge said.
The friend left the apartment to visit another party, but returned 15 to 20 minutes later to check on the sleeping woman.
“She said she opened the spare bedroom door and saw the victim in the same position on the bed, lying on her back but now her pants had been removed and the accused was performing oral sex on her,” said the judge.
The accused became angry, and shut the door in her face. The friend went back into the room where she found D.G.A. having sex with the victim.
The friend started yelling, and the victim began waking up.
“She said she was assisting the victim putting her pants on because she was just waking up from a deep sleep and did not know what was going on,” the judge said.
Once clothed, the victim ran from the apartment. After finding her sitting on the ground crying, the friend called for a ride and got the victim to the hospital.
The victim, her friend, a neighbour and another party-goer as well as D.G.A. testified during the March trial.
The judge found the victim to be a credible witness who was clear with what she did and didn’t remember.
“She did not present as someone out for vengeance but only someone very sad and distraught,” the judge said.
On the other hand, the judge found the accused’s testimony was inconsistent with the witnesses accounts of the events as well as the external evidence.
A toxicology report was presented as evidence in the trial and the results indicated that the victim was likely heavily intoxicated that night.
The judge found that the victim, who was 22 at the time of the incident, did not consent to sex and was unable to consent.
“In the circumstances of this case, a clear and unequivocal verbal consent would be the minimum appropriate threshold,” the judge said.
“In this case, the accused…was very clearly reckless and wilfully blind as to whether he had the consent of the intoxicated 22-year-old complainant who was a virtual stranger to him.”