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July 18, 2016 - 4:30 PM
CONTENT ADVISORY
KAMLOOPS - The man found guilty of sexual assault in Kamloops court last week plans to appeal his conviction, according to his lawyer
A jury found Taylor James Matchett, 28, guilty of sexual assault on July 15.
A woman, who cannot be named due to a court-ordered publication ban, says Matchett raped her at gunpoint in McArthur Island Park nearly seven years ago.
It was a he-said she-said trial due to the age of the case and a lack of hard evidence.
The woman testified she was working as a prostitute on Tranquille Road in 2009 when Matchett pulled up in his girlfriend's car. She approached him asking if he wanted company.
In her testimony, the woman says she asked Matchett to drive to her home. Instead, he drove to McArthur Island Park. When they arrived, the woman says Matchett told her he had a surprise for her and pulled out a gun.
She alleges that he forced her to give him oral sex while holding the gun to her head, then raped her for about 20 minutes.
While Matchett turned to walk towards the vehicle, the woman took off and ran to a nearby home to call 911.
There were no leads in the case for years, until Matchett was charged with an Alberta break-in. With those charges came a mandatory DNA order, and once his DNA was in the system, a match was found in connection to the sexual assault case.
During the trial, Matchett and his defence lawyer Sheldon Tate tried to discredit the woman's story. They say she was angry with Matchett after his condom broke and demanded $500 from him. They said she told Matchett if he didn't pay her she would go to the police and tell them he raped her.
Matchett insists the sex was consensual.
For more of our coverage of this case, go here.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2016