A 13-year-old girl charged with four counts of sexual assault says she didn't know what the word "rape" meant when shouted "It's rape time" and groped four of her female friends.
The girl, who was 12 when the incidents happened between Sept. 7-Oct. 28, testified in court Friday the behaviour in question and the word was part of the normal fooling around that occurred between the friends.
She said her friends always laughed when she did it and no one told her to stop.
The identity of the girl and the alleged victims are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
"It was how we always joked with each other," said the girl, about the word "rape."
She said she had heard "rape" used on TV and one of her friends would sometimes say her dog was raping her leg or "Stop raping that tree" when one of her friends would rub up against a tree.
"Do you know what it means now?" asked defence lawyer Edward Derrah.
"Yes," replied the girl.
The girl acknowledged slapping or touching her friends on the buttocks in the dark and one time jumping on a friend's back, wrapping her arms around her and touching her breasts.
She said the contact was always brief.
"It was just a touch," she said.
Earlier testimony by several of the alleged victims said their breasts were squeezed and moved by the accused and she grinded her stomach and breasts into them during the alleged assaults.
The complainants said they were always clothed during the incidents but that sometimes the accused was only wearing a bra and panties.
Some of the girls testified earlier in the trial the activity happened multiple times just before the twice-a-week gym classes. It made them feel uncomfortable, they said, and they had asked her to stop.
The accused denied the incidents happened when she was wearing a bra and panties, but that she was always wearing street clothes or gym clothes.
She said her friends didn't ask her to stop.
She also said they sometimes carried out similar activities outside the locker room in which she was on the receiving end.
Derrah showed the accused a picture taken at a local mall and she identified herself and one of the complainants. In the photo, one of the complainants is touching the accused on her buttocks.
Crown prosecutor Hilary Drain asked the accused if she had taken sex education in Grade 6, and learned about sexual assault and bad touching.
The girl replied she had but that the word "rape" was never used in sex-ed class.
Drain acknowledged the word "rape" is no longer used in the Criminal Code.
She asked the girl if she had read a pamphlet from the sex-ed class called Hands Off Feet Off. The girl said she had seen it but not read it.
One of the alleged victims, who also testified Friday, said the accused touched her on the buttocks when the lights were out. She said she was clothed at the time.
Under cross-examination by Derrah, she said the accused didn't touch her in the crotch area
Earlier in the trial, one of the other complainants testified she saw the defendant grab that girl by the crotch.
She testified the mood in the locker room was always light-hearted and often the girls were laughing.
She said she never told her friend to stop because she didn't want her friend to be angry with her.
She also said she didn't hear any of her friends telling the accused to stop when it happened to them.
The incidents stopped and the accused was required to change for gym alone in a separate room after school officials became aware of the situation.
In his closing argument, Derrah paraphrased the late Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and questioned whether the state had a role in a middle school girls' locker room.
Judge Julian Dickson said he was impressed with how the school handled the situation and Derrah agreed, and said it should have stopped at the school level.
The school notified the Department of Social Development.
Dickson said the activity obviously started as horseplay and the question is whether it became criminal activity.
Derrah said there was inconsistency in the testimony of the complainants, including who saw what, what was touched, how the accused was dressed, whether there was laughter, nervous laughter or no laughter.
He said the accused thought she was entertaining her friends and that was reinforced by their laughter.
The defence lawyer said he asked his client about sexual gratification and she replied that she didn't know what that was.
Dickson said one of the alleged victims sounded like she had been coached by an adult when she said that if she was touched even once it was too often.
The judge said the strongest evidence in favour of the accused was that none of her four friends complained to anyone about the behaviour.
He said that reinforces the idea the behaviour was horseplay.
Derrah said if there was an assault it was trifling in nature and there was little in the way of a sexual nature related to the case.
Crown prosecutor Rose Campbell in her closing argument said the state certainly had a place in the public school system.
She said in the case of sexual assault, the Criminal Code requires a judge to look at the whole picture including the situation, words, gestures, intent and not just what body part was touched.
Campbell said testimony was consistent on the important details of the touching, the lights being out and the words to the effect of "It's raping time" being called out.
She said three of the four girls testified the behaviour made them uncomfortable and they told the accused to stop.
She also said the law is clear the victim's perception, a lack of sexual gratification, their friendship and the amount of force used doesn't matter when it comes to sexual assault.
There's no such thing as implied consent from laughter, said Campbell.
She cited several court cases involving touching.
Dickson asked her if she found any court cases involving only young teens and she said she hadn't.
"It's a unique set of circumstances," said Campbell.
Dickson adjourned the matter until Sept. 2 for his decision.
You are currently not logged into this site. Pleaselog inorregisterfor a FREE ONE Account .
Logged in visitors may comment on articles, enter contests, manage home delivery holds and much more online. Your ONE Account grants you access to features and content across the entire CanadaEast Network of sites.
Source:
