Photo: Nicholas Johansen
Tips for readers: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault
“I told them to let me go and asked them why they were doing what they were doing to me. And they just laughed. “
A young woman testified in court in Kelowna on Wednesday, claiming that four young men sexually assaulted her in a bedroom in the basement of West Kelowna after drunkenness in June 2018.
The lawsuit against brothers Christian and David Dupas, along with Cole Comin and Trevor Pereverzov, began last week. The men were between the ages of 21 and 23 when the alleged incident occurred. The victim’s identity, called YW, is protected by a ban on publication.
YW climbed for the first time on Wednesday to testify about the night in question. She met with one of the defendants, Chimney, on a dating app and attended a home party with him in June 2018. After drinking at West Kelowna’s home, the group attended BNA Brewing before returning home early in the morning. . She described her level of intoxication after returning home as “seven out of 10”
YW testified that she “darkened” while sitting on a bed in West Kelowna’s home, watching several people play video games. She described the eclipse as “not realizing what’s going on” and said “I just don’t remember anything after that.”
She testified that she then woke up in the same bed, without clothes, surrounded by the four accused.
“What’s the next thing you remember happening after waking up in bed with these four men around you?” Crown Prosecutor Patricia O’Neill asked.
“I was sexually abused … they had sex with me without my consent,” YW replied.
She then testified that the four defendants took turns raping her in pairs, “shaking hands” with her, calling her names like “slut” and “whore” while laughing at her.
“I just wanted them to stop and I told them to let me go,” YW said. “I asked them five or six times if they would let me go [that] I wouldn’t say anything. “
She repeatedly told O’Neill that she had never given her consent to sexual activity with one of the four men.
Later that day, YW reported the alleged assault to police and she was taken to Kelowna General Hospital, where a sexual assault investigator was gathering evidence.
YW made a statement to RCMP Const. Lindsay Schwind the same day who testified at last week’s trial. The clerk told the court that she and YW named the four men as hockey players 1, 2, 3 and 4 during the first interview because YW did not know the names of the four at the time.
Pereverzov played for Prince George Spruce Kings during part of the 2014-2015 season and was last listed by the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2019. Chimney played one game with Merritt Centennials in 2015 and ended his junior hockey career. in Alberta in 2020
Evidence during the trial included a video made by YW of the party, which was used to identify some of the suspects, along with a BNA surveillance recording and an audio recording taken from taxis, which YW used after the alleged attack.
All four men have been charged with sexual assault and illegal detention. They all pleaded not guilty at the beginning of the trial. The cross-examination of YW’s defense is expected to begin on Thursday. It is unclear whether any of the defendants plan to testify in their defense.
The case is scheduled to continue until the end of the month.
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