The alleged victim of a sexual assault while on a military deployment in Scotland told a general court martial on Monday that she still partially blames herself for not doing enough to prevent the attack.
The complainant was testifying on the first day of the trial of Sgt. Kevin J. MacIntyre, a member of the military police based in Halifax.
“I should have moved, I should have punched him, I should have screamed,” the alleged victim told the court while testifying before judge J.B.M. Pelletier and a panel of five randomly selected military members. The panel serves a similar role to that of a jury in a civilian trial.
“In the movies . . . it’s so easy. But when it happens . . . ” she said, trailing off. “But for sure I’m blaming myself and I will always be blaming myself for that.”
The court imposed a publication ban on any information that may identify the alleged victim, a fellow Armed Forces member.
MacIntyre pleaded not guilty to the single charge of sexual assault.
The woman was the first witness called by Maj. Larry Langlois, who is prosecuting the case for the Crown along with Lt. Jennifer Besner.
The complainant alleges that the assault happened on the night of Sept. 27, 2015, when the members were in Glasgow, Scotland, preparing to provide logistical support for Canadian warships taking part in an exercise off the coast of Europe.
The woman said she and fellow service members flew to the Scottish city overnight from Halifax and she did not get much sleep on the five-hour flight. She said she and her workmates arrived at about 9 a.m. local time, tired and jetlagged but also excited to start the work. She said she did not know MacIntyre before all those being deployed got together for a general meeting.
After her group’s van from the airport got lost en route to the hotel, they eventually arrived at their destination, the Park Inn by Radisson, at about 11 in the morning. They had some preliminary work to do and checked out the city somewhat before gathering for supper at the hotel restaurant.
She said she only ate a few appetizers and then they all had some drinks.
“I was tipsy, but not drunk,” she testified.
The bar area became quite busy and she had fun, she said.
There came a point when she and two others decided to call it a night and they left the restaurant, but the other two wanted to have another drink at a bar inside the hotel. She said she only had water. It had been about 36 hours without sleep and she was feeling tired and just wanted to go to bed.
At about 11 p.m., she told the court, they headed to their rooms. One of her co-workers, a woman, escorted her to her room to make sure she got there safely, the alleged victim testified.
The woman said her co-worker stood by as she went into her room. She put her wallet and room key on the table and turned around and was surprised to see MacIntyre behind the other woman in the doorway.
She said the other two left and she fell asleep, only to awaken a short time later in a panic thinking she had lost her passport. There was a knock on the door and her co-worker and MacIntyre again were there. The other woman reassured the complainant that her passport was in her wallet and she went to bed again.
When she next awoke, it was to the feeling of skin touching her skin, she testified. Someonewas lying in bed naked with her, in a spooning position and trying to touch her genitals. She told the court she recognized MacIntyre’s voice when she protested and he mumbled something. She said she pushed his hand away and said “no” and he tried again. She said this repeated about 10 or 15 times before he moved his arm up near her neck and rubbed his thumb across her lips.
She told him she didn’t want to cheat on her husband but the assault continued.
The woman said she knew he was an MP and trained in using pressure points.
“I thought, I’m f***ed,” she testified.
The only thing she could think to do was to roll on her stomach to indicate she wasn’t interested. She passed out but awoke again to find him penetrating her vagina from behind, alternating between intercourse and using his fingers. She protested again and said he was hurting her but he continued until he climaxed, she testified.
She again passed out and when she woke up in the morning, MacIntyre was sleeping in her bed. She went to the bathroom and made herself throw up and then told him to go.
After showering, she texted and then met with the woman who had escorted her to her room, and they could not puzzle out how MacIntyre had got in after they had left.
She also confronted MacIntyre, and said he told her it was a 50-50 encounter, something she vigorously denied.
She couldn’t bear to sleep in the same room and had another officer arrange for her to change rooms.
She told the court she discussed the incident with several others but did not make a formal complaint for six months because she didn’t want others to find out.
The trial resumes Tuesday morning with defence attorney David Bright’s cross-examination of the woman.
