(JESSICA WALLACE / iNFOnews.ca)
November 25, 2013 - 12:58 PM
AFRAID THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR CHILDREN
KAMLOOPS - Allegations of sex with underage girls only came to light when a 13-year-old girl confided in a school counsellor, a Crown prosecutor said in opening statements for a trial that began today.
A trial by jury began today in B.C. Supreme Court for two men accused of having sex with two teenage girls two years ago in Kamloops.
Tyson Coutlee and Raven Bebamikawe each face one charge of sexual interference of a person under 16 after alleged events on Oct. 13, 2011.
Prosecutor Bernie Caffaro said the two men, aged 21 and 23 at the time, had sex with the two sisters after getting them drunk. The girls were 13 and 15 at the time and cannot be named because of a court order.
"(The accused) had liquor with them and they offered it to the girls," Caffarro said today. "The girls got drunk and the two accused took advantage of them."
The girls' mother was upstairs sleeping and their father was out of the house, the jury heard.
"There was no adult supervision at the time," Caffarro said.
Caffaro told the jury the girls' parents found out the following day but didn't report it to police out of fear of losing custody of their children.
"Both of them were afraid of having their daughters taken away," Caffarro said.
The Crown told the jury that the 13-year-old girl confided in a school counsellor, bringing the allegations to light weeks after.
The Crown is expected to call eight witnesses and the trial is expected to last until mid-December.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013