Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
September 16, 2016 - 1:03 PM
CONTENT WARNING
KAMLOOPS - A Kamloops man who raped his friend while she slept has been found guilty of sexual assault.
John Grant appeared in Kamloops Supreme Court today, Sept. 16, to hear the verdict and Justice Linda Loo's reasons for her decision.
The complainant in the case is a woman who has lived in her home for the past 20 years. She cannot be identified due to a court ordered publication ban.
Court heard the offence happened in February 2014. On Feb. 23, she went to a party also attended by Grant.
She was exhausted at the time she went to the party. Court heard the complainant is a heavy sleeper and can't be woken by alarms or the sound of a train.
Loo says the complainant described Grant as a chronic alcoholic with no fixed address or job.
The complainant left the party and returned to her home around 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. She watched a movie on TV and began folding laundry. Grant began texting her, saying he needed her to come pick him up. She did and brought him back to her home.
"There was never anything romantic between the two. He was just one of her good friends," Loo said.
Court heard Grant sat on the complainant's couch while she continued folding her laundry. Loo says Grant was kicking off his shoes and said to the complainant “I’m going to fuck you tonight.” She replied “No you’re not”
Grant started becoming a nuisance, flexing his muscles and using "macho phrases," telling the complainant "they don't think I'm a good hockey player." The complainant told Grant to go to sleep in her bedroom. She had a king-sized bed which could fit up to four people.
"He had no place to go, he was one of her best friends," Loo said.
He made no further sexual or romantic advances toward her, court heard.
The complainant was exhausted but continued to fold laundry hoping Grant would fall asleep by the time she got downstairs. When she came to bed, the room was completely dark and she assumed Grant was sleeping.
When the complainant got into bed, Grant asked her if they were going to watch a movie. She said no and moved herself to the opposite corner of the bed with underwear and her pajamas on.
The next thing the complainant remembered, she was waking up with Grant on top of her and his fingers inside her vagina. Court heard the pain was so bad it caused the complainant to wake up.
She asked him "What the fuck are you doing?" before grabbing her clothes and running out of the bedroom.
Loo said the complainant was half asleep, shocked and she didn't know what to do. The woman tried calling her cousin before realizing her phone was dead. She plugged it in to charge but fell asleep on the couch in the "fetal position" while she waited.
A short time later, the complainant woke up on the couch with her clothes off and Grant kneeling beside her. The complainant questioned him again and he told her the sexual actions he was planning on doing to her.
He tried to push his elbow into her leg so she couldn't move. The complainant attempted to twist and turn to try to free herself from him. She fell onto the cement floor, injuring her knees. The complainant says she crawled away and went to her bedroom to get new pajama bottoms.
The woman then went upstairs and sat on the couch. She began falling asleep and decided to go back downstairs. The complainant couldn't find Grant, so she went to her bedroom and fell asleep.
She awoke to Grant on top of her "raping her," Loo says.
"I thought you were my friend and you fucked me while I was sleeping," the complainant yelled at Grant.
Loo said the woman didn't want to go to the police at first because she knew women like herself who had and it had never gone to court. The next day she decided to call the police and go for a sexual assault examination.
Court heard an arrest warrant was issued for Grant on March 7, 2014 but he wasn't located until June of last year. He was arrested, but later granted bail.
"I find the accused guilty as charged," Loo said.
Grant is no longer allowed to enter Kamloops Indian Band Reserve lands except for employment. His next court appearance is expected to be Sept. 26 when a date for sentencing will be set.
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