Former Vancouver Canuck Jake Virtanen appeared in British Columbia Supreme Court to deny he sexually assaulted a woman nearly five years ago.
Virtanen told the trial that the woman, who testified she repeatedly told him “no” before the alleged assault, was an “enthusiastic participant.”
Questioned Thursday by one of his defense attorneys, Colleen Eldon, Virtanen disputed the woman’s testimony and denied he used his body weight to pin her to the bed in his Vancouver hotel room in September 2017.
Virtanen appeared to take time to compose himself and briefly cupped his head in his hands before describing the moment he first heard of the accusation.
He tearfully said he was in “complete disbelief” when his agent told him in April 2021 that a woman would publicly accuse him of a sex crime.
Virtanen, now 25, was charged with one count of sexual assault in January following an investigation by Vancouver police.
His testimony will continue on Friday.
The Crown has finished calling evidence at trial.
Virtanen told the court he met the woman when he was 20 and she was 18 at the Calgary Stampede in 2017 and they kept in touch via Instagram and text messages that summer when they were both dating. returned to British Columbia
They exchanged “flirtatious texts” and conversations and discussed getting together when she came to Vancouver, he said.
Eldon asked Virtanen if she thought they were going to have sex before taking her to his hotel room after picking her up from a friend’s house where she was staying.
“I wasn’t sure, but it was up to her,” he said.
“It would have been her choice.”
The woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban, testified earlier this week that she had a “sinking feeling” in her stomach when she arrived at the hotel but trusted Virtanen so she went up to his room . She told the court he kissed and touched her and she tried to push him away, saying she did not want to have sex.
Virtanen testified that the woman did not seem upset at any point.
They began kissing and touching each other while lying on the bed and helped each other undress before having sex, he said.
The Canucks placed Virtanen on leave in May 2021 after the assault allegation was made public, and then bought out his contract the following month. He most recently played in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League.
During cross-examination earlier Thursday, Virtanen’s lawyer Brock Martland asked the 23-year-old why she attended a preseason game between the Canucks and the Calgary Flames two days after the night of the alleged assault.
She told the trial she went to the match with her boyfriend because she had always wanted to attend a professional match as she had played sports all her life.
The woman testified that she hadn’t fully processed what had happened and acted as if everything was normal because she wanted to pretend the alleged assault didn’t happen.
She agreed that the incident she described in court was an “aggressive rape” that was traumatic for her and that she did not want to see Virtanen afterwards.
The woman did not go to the police in September 2017 when the alleged assault took place.
In April 2021, she posted her story on an Instagram page for sexual assault survivors, then spoke to a reporter from Glacier Media about a newspaper article naming Virtanen as the man who allegedly sexually assaulted her.
Martland targeted the messages she exchanged with that page.
He showed her a screenshot of a message where she referred to “rumors” about what had happened, saying: “It was just looked at as, ‘Oh, (she) slept with an NHL player,’ like it was a good thing that she should I feel proud of him and I’m left wondering if this even counts as an assault because of his position in hockey.
“Yes,” she replied.
“I’ve said over the years that I doubt myself because people don’t believe me.”
Martland showed the woman another message in which she said people were making “harsh” comments about Virtanen online after his name was linked to her claim, and she was worried it could lead to violence against him.
“Obviously I don’t like him for what he did, but I wouldn’t wish violence on him,” she said in response.
“I wanted him to be punished, I wanted him to be held accountable, and even when I went to the police initially, I felt a little uncomfortable, you know, for someone to be accused and basically ruin his life,” she said.
“But at the same time, he didn’t even skip a beat when he raped me.”
During earlier cross-examination, Martland suggested the woman could offer an excuse for not being able to have sex, such as saying she was on her period.
“I thought about saying ‘No, I don’t want to do this. I really don’t want to do this, keeping my hands on his hips, pushing him away from me was enough,” she replied.
Before concluding her cross-examination Thursday, Martland apologized for being asked why she had not offered an apology, calling it insensitive.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 21, 2022.
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