A man accused of sex crimes chose to testify in his own defence on Tuesday, June 3 in BC Supreme Court in Prince George.
The accused pleaded not guilty to two charges of sexual assault and two charges of sexual interference of a person under age 16. The Crown accuses him of committing the offences between April 2019 and March 2022.
The scheduled 10-day trial, which began May 26, is under a publication ban to protect the identities of the accused, alleged victims and witnesses, all of whom are primarily from a community south of Prince George.
Crown prosecutor Blake Bouchard asked the man about a game called Mantracker, which the accused described as a version of hide and seek.
“I understand this game was played primarily in like the bush, forest,” Bouchard said.
The accused replied: “Just about anywhere really, everywhere, bushes around school, around fire hall, up and down the roads.”
Bouchard then said that when the man and others were playing Mantracker, and he was alone with one of the complainants, that “you took the opportunity to touch her vagina. Is that true?”
“No, that’s not true,” the man responded.
Bouchard then asked about another allegation, that the man grabbed the breast of another complainant, who was distracted while cooking noodles.
“No,” the man answered.
A woman testified Monday, June 2 that the accused suffered a brain injury as a teenager after a tree fell on his head while working in the bush. He was flown to hospital in Vancouver for emergency medical treatment.
Under cross-examination, the man said he would “never stop recovering” from the brain injury. He agreed with Bouchard that, due to the effects of the injury, he did not have a full memory of the period of 2019 to 2022.
Said Bouchard: “So I'm going to suggest to you that you can't really say what happened or what didn't happen because you don't remember, is that fair?”
“I would remember those sorts of situations,” the man said.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday, June 4.
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