Photo shoot sex-assault case now in jury’s hands

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This article was published 26/04/2012 (4942 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg jury must now decide the fate of a former police officer accused of sexually assaulting a young woman during an off-duty photo shoot.

Richard Dow, 57, has pleaded not guilty to the April 2000 incident inside his Southdale home. Crown and defence lawyers made their closing arguments on Thursday morning, and jury deliberations are set to begin on Monday.

Jurors have heard two drastically different tales of what happened that night.

The alleged victim, now 30, told court that Dow plied her with alcohol and then raped her. Dow admits the two had sex, but claims it was entirely consensual.

The woman was just 18 when she met Dow after answering a newspaper ad looking for models. She had never modelled but wanted to put a portfolio together so she could find work to supplement her income. She said the six-hour session became increasingly risqué, and blurry, as she consumed up to seven alcoholic drinks provided by Dow.

“I was so drunk I could barely move. I was limp, in and out of consciousness. He kind of just had his way with me,” she told jurors earlier this week on the witness stand.

She didn’t tell anyone about the sexual assault until police called her six years later, wanting to speak about her involvement with Dow. They were investigating him and his agency, Ricoco International, and had found photographs during a search of his residence.

Under cross-examination, the woman said she may have given off signs of “flirting” with Dow because of her intoxication. She also conceded she never resisted his sexual overtures or told him “no” but denied suggestions she was the sexual aggressor.

“I wasn’t in any state of mind where I could make good decisions,” she said.

Defence lawyer Crystal Antila questioned why she originally told police in 2006 she didn’t believe Dow had done anything wrong to her. Antila suggested the woman came up with a bogus story to cover up the fact she had cheated on her boyfriend.

Dow claims the only alcohol he gave the woman during the photo session was a single shot of rum or rye with pop at the end of the photo shoot, followed by another that she didn’t finish because of the sex they ended up having.

“No ifs, ands and buts, she was a 100 per cent participant,” Dow testified. “Believe me, it was a big surprise that we had sex that evening… at no point did I ever anticipate or think about her being my date that night.”

Dow said the woman agreed to have both lingerie and topless photos taken of her in hopes of appearing in other publications. Dow said the sex took place shortly after the woman suddenly kissed him after she had dressed and while they were having a drink after the photo shoot. Afterwards, Dow drove the woman home, but not before he said she told him the sex they had was the best she’d ever experienced.

Crown prosecutor Marty Minuk told jurors on Thursday that Dow was clearly lying in order to protect himself. He said Dow makes the evening sound like something out of a “Harlequin romance novel” and obviously took advantage of the young woman.

“By reason of intoxication, she was incapable of consenting,” said Minuk. “(Dow’s story) is a fabrication, made up, for inexcusable behaviour.”

But Dow’s lawyer told jurors the young woman’s actions following that night tell the real story. The woman admitted to meeting with Dow on multiple occasions after the fact and even signed a modelling contract with him six months later, although she admits to later changing her mind.

“These are not the actions of a woman who was sexually assaulted,” Antila said.

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