U of M denies responsibility in dorm sex assault lawsuit By: Erik Pindera Posted: 12:36 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 Last Modified: 8:10 PM CDT Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025 Updates

The University of Manitoba is denying responsibility for the sexual assault of a student in a dorm last fall, arguing in court filings the victim is partly to blame for failing to lock her door.

The attack happened at the U of M’s Arthur V. Mauro Student Residence at 120 Dafoe Rd. at about 4:45 a.m. on Oct. 25, 2024.

The intruder entered the building, broke into a secured area and then into the woman’s room as she slept, where he assaulted her. She managed to fight him off and call for help. The woman was taken to hospital and was treated for her injuries.

A suspect was arrested later that day and charged with sex assault, among other offences.

The woman, who dropped out of the post-secondary institution, filed a lawsuit in the Court of King’s Bench in May, alleging the U of M failed to protect her and had inadequate security measures.

In her lawsuit, the victim said she has suffered physical pain, mental and emotional trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, among other harms.

In a statement of defence filed in court last week, the U of M argues a judge should toss out the lawsuit and grant it legal costs, arguing it was not negligent and did not breach any duty to the victim.

“The university says that any harm caused to the plaintiff was solely as a result of the perpetrator’s behaviour… and was not caused or contributed to by the university,” reads the U of M’s court filing.

U of M also denied it created an opportunity for the suspect by failing to put proper safety measures in place, as alleged, or created conditions at the dorm allowing the perpetrator to encounter the woman.

“The university denies its rules, principles, or policies… created an opportunity for the perpetrator to access the plaintiff or that it failed to implement and enforce adequate security measures on the premises,” the defence filing reads.

The school argues if the woman suffered any losses or damages, it was not the U of M’s fault.

“The university states that if the plaintiff has suffered loss or damages, which is denied, such loss or damages were not caused by the university but was caused in whole or in part by the plaintiff failing to ensure the door to her room… was locked such that the perpetrator was able to gain access to her room,” the U of M’s court filing argues.

The post-secondary institution also denies it can be held legally liable for the perpetrator’s actions.

Victoria Lehman, a retired lawyer and longtime human rights advocate on issues such as domestic violence and assault, said Wednesday that the university is obligated to present every possible defence.

“While that’s true, however, the potential optics here of ‘blame the victim’ are unfortunate,” Lehman, a member of the Council of Women Winnipeg,  told the Free Press. “The bottom line is that neither the civil nor the criminal matters have been heard in court, and while the university has to put every defence, the question remains whether the court will accept their defence that she was to blame to any degree because she should have locked her door, and whether this will actually take some degree of responsibility from the university or not.”

She acknowledged this detail of the school’s defence would be upsetting to anyone.

“Saying that she should have locked her door could be re-traumatizing the victim,” Lehman said. “Especially having evidently experienced such horrific violence by a sexual predator with a previous history of violence toward women.”

Police have not said how the intruder managed to bypass security measures within the U of M student residence. The building where the attack occurred is six storeys and can house up to 316 students in 155 suites.

University officials said earlier this year the institution had put in place new security measures and held safety sessions in the wake of the assault. Upgrades at the time included physical improvements to student residences and 24-hour security guard presence.

Garry Junior Edwards, who’s in his mid-40s, was charged with sexual assault, robbery, overcoming resistance by attempting to choke and four break-and-enter offences in connection to the October assault. He’s next due in court on the charges on Friday.

Edwards is a registered sex offender with a history of violence. He was released from Stony Mountain prison in May last year after serving a sentence of being unlawfully at large.

Previously, he had been let out of the prison in November 2023 after serving a 12-year sentence for two counts each of sex assault with a weapon and armed robbery, as well as flight from police, dangerous driving and theft over $5,000.

Edwards, who was addicted to crack cocaine, randomly robbed and violently sexually assaulted two women at knifepoint in separate incidents downtown in April 2012.

He was convicted of those crimes in 2013.

— with files from Scott Billeck

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca