Chef testifies no sex assault took place

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This article was published 23/06/2017 (3040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg chef on trial for sexual assault testified he did not force himself on a woman who accuses him of raping her 10 years ago.

Rob Thomas, 39, has pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault in connection to the alleged Aug. 25, 2007, incident. He testified this week the woman, then 21, initiated a sexual encounter and suddenly asked him to stop, which he did.

In her version of events, Thomas led her to a parkade stairwell, pushed her onto concrete stairs and raped her.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice David Kroft reserved his decision on the case Thursday after hearing from three Crown witnesses, including the now-31-year-old complainant, and the accused during the four-day trial.

Thomas, a well-known local chef, and the complainant — who can’t be identified under a publication ban — both were guests at a wedding reception the night of the alleged assault. Both testified they went outside to get some air and walked together to a nearby parking lot on Hargrave Street, where they talked and kissed.

The woman said Thomas took her by the hand and led her to the stairwell, saying something to the effect of, “Let’s go somewhere private.”

Thomas said he can’t remember how they ended up in the stairwell, but he denied leading her there.

Not only did no sexual assault occur, he said, they did not have sexual intercourse.

Defence lawyer Hymie Weinstein questioned his client about the incident on the stand on Wednesday.

“Did you, Mr. Thomas, ever force her to do anything?” Weinstein asked.

“Absolutely not,” Thomas answered. He testified the woman initiated a sexual encounter and then changed her mind.

“She said we should stop,” he testified. “I said ‘OK,’ and I took a couple steps back.”

He said the woman immediately asked him if he’d seen her purse, which he hadn’t, and he went back to the reception. He said by the end of the night, he’d seen her dancing and partying. She testified she was very upset afterward and didn’t remember going back to the reception.

The case is not about consent, Crown prosecutor Danielle Simard argued during her closing arguments Thursday, because of the two different versions of what happened. It’s also not about credibility, she argued, because there was no suggestion of a motive for the alleged victim to fabricate a story in court.

She said the defence has not challenged the complainant’s evidence she went to the doctor and disclosed she’d been sexually assaulted shortly after the alleged incident.

“I don’t think it’s a situation where anybody is alleging (the complainant) came here purposefully attempting to mislead the court,” Simard said.

While the complainant acknowledged she was drunk that night, “her memory is not unreliable because of alcohol consumption,” Simard said, arguing any inconsistencies in her story seized upon by the defence team were not important, such as the timing of when she said, “No, stop!” or the position in which the alleged rape began.

Defence lawyer Lisa LaBossiere argued the inconsistencies are notable considering, she said, the victim’s memory of what happened “is becoming more clear years and years and years later.”

The complainant “was drunk, she doesn’t know what happened,” LaBossiere argued in court Thursday. “Her memories are not reliable.”

She urged the court to believe Thomas, who she said was credible and not evasive on the stand.

Thomas was charged with sexual assault after a police investigation prompted by the complainant’s report in December 2014. She said she didn’t come forward to police about the 2007 incident until after she was inappropriately touched by another man outside a beer vendor and started going to therapy, which she said helped her relive what happened to her.

No date has yet been set for the judge to deliver his decision.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @thatkatiemay