Warning: This story contains graphic details that may be distressing to some readers.
A Canadian Armed Forces chief petty officer on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a crewmate has denied the charge, saying the woman consented to sex when she removed her pants.
The woman, whose named is protected by a publication ban, told Provincial Court Judge Nancy Adams Oct. 24 that David Leslie Joseph Wilson penetrated her after returning to the ship drunk. Court heard the ship was docked in Vancouver harbour performing operations prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The woman testified that she said ‘No’ repeatedly during the alleged February 2009 incident.
Under questioning from Crown prosecutor Joanna Medjuck, the woman testified various members of the crew were having a drink in a mess when she and Wilson struck up a conversation that lasted about half an hour.
Wilson testified the woman had been dancing with another man when he entered the mess.
“She was drunk and friendly,” he said, later adding she began dancing with him.
“She was directly in front of me pressing her body against me,” he told the judge.
He testified he soon left to join others leaving the ship. He asked her if she wished to join them but she refused.
He said she left the mess just after he did and they proceeded to a lower deck where their cabins were close to each other.
At his cabin, he said, they began kissing. Then, he said, she performed oral sex on him.
Asked by Medjuck how tall he was, Wilson said 5’11”. He estimated the woman as being four inches shorter than him.
He said he told her to stop three or four times because he was afraid of getting caught.
Wilson said he then left the ship to go ashore with others. He soon returned without telling his group he was leaving, he said.
Wilson testified he would not enter another cabin without knocking.
However, he told the court, on his return, he went to the woman’s cabin, knocked and did not get a response. He said she had given him permission to wake her on return to the ship to continue the party after she had napped.
He said he entered the woman’s cabin and called her name several times. When she awoke, he asked her if she wanted to go for a cigarette. She said no.
“I asked her if I could get into bed with her she said, ‘Yes,’” he said.
He said she removed her pyjama bottoms as he removed his pants.
“I took her removing her pants as consent,” Wilson said.
Wilson denied the woman’s testimony that he had pulled her hair, held her head in a pillow or held her down.
Wilson testified under questioning from defence lawyer David Karp that he asked the woman after sex if she wanted him to stay.
“She said, ‘No,’” Wilson said.
He told the court he talked to her the next day.
“She opened by saying, ‘We all get horny but you can’t just jump into my bunk,’” Wilson said. “I was flabbergasted.”
The trial continues throughout the week.
