Complainant wanted officers to like her

A lawyer for one of two RCMP officers accused of raping a woman in Watson Lake last March attempted to portray the alleged victim as the initiator of the sexual encounter.

A lawyer for one of two RCMP officers accused of raping a woman in Watson Lake last March attempted to portray the alleged victim as the initiator of the sexual encounter.

In cross-examination this morning of the alleged victim, defence lawyer Robert Warren, representing Const. Shawn McLaughlin, suggested the woman wanted a threesome with the two off-duty officers and later concocted the sexual assault story to protect her reputation because she was afraid of telling her husband the truth.

The woman took the stand Tuesday afternoon as the Crown’s primary witness in the case, but today was the first time she faced questions from the defence.

On Tuesday, the woman told Yukon Supreme Court that she “felt paralyzed” during the alleged attack in which she blacked out twice, but this morning was the first instance the alleged victim said she had been drugged.

“Because I was drugged, I can’t remember a lot of what happened that night,” she explained of why it was difficult for her to recall many events of the evening.

They included instances at a party prior to the trio leaving for Const. Graham Belak’s, where the alleged assault is said to have taken place in the early hours of Mar. 8, 2009.

The two RCMP officers and their accuser met at the small party hosted by Sean Walsh on the evening of Mar. 7, 2009.

Like Walsh’s testimony, the alleged victim said she was the first guest at the party and she and Walsh had a drink and chatted before others, including McLaughlin and Belak, arrived.

The alleged victim also acknowledged flirting with McLaughlin at the party, sitting on the off-duty officer’s lap and wrapping her arm around McLaughlin’s neck while he pretended to “grab my boob.”

Unlike Walsh’s version of events provided to the court on Monday, the alleged victim said McLaughlin was not present in Walsh’s basement when Walsh agreed with Belak’s lawyer, Andrew McKay, that the woman bounced “seductively” on an exercise ball in front of McLaughlin.

However, during the alleged victim’s testimony Tuesday, she told of locking arms with Belak on the way to his house.

When asked by Crown prosecutor Robert Beck why she flirted with the officers, the alleged victim said she did it out of self-interest.

“I wanted them to like me ... so I would feel safe,” she said.

On Tuesday, her husband testified he had concerns about his wife’s new job that included nightshifts when she would be working alone.

Yesterday, she testified that colleagues advised her to befriend local police, and one part of her orientation was a visit to the Watson Lake RCMP detachment to meet some officers.

Under cross-examination this morning, the alleged victim reiterated much of her testimony given Tuesday.

Then, the alleged victim said she went with McLaughlin and Belak to Belak’s house because she thought she would meet more people, “maybe the female officer” who also worked in Watson Lake.

When they arrived at Belak’s, she was offered and accepted a glass of red wine and the three, “continued talking and getting to know each other.”

Playing on the television were sports highlights, she said.

The alleged victim admitted she was intoxicated to the point of being unable to walk a straight line to Belak’s, had difficulty smoking two cigars while there and did not remember much of the conversation at the officer’s home.

“I found it difficult to keep the (wine-tipped) cigar in my mouth. I don’t remember the conversation’s specifics until we started talking about my sweater,” she testified.

When Belak said he liked it, she stood up in front of him to give Belak a better look. At this point, McLaughlin came from behind, “and held on to my waist. I could feel he had an erection.”

Belak stood up, asked about the crucifix on a chain around her neck, and was about a foot in front of her when she heard a “clink.”

“I looked down and I saw that my belt and pants were on the ground. I immediately went to pull them up but I fell over,” she said.

She hit the ground and when she opened her eyes, Belak was raping her, she stated.

“I was lying on my back and he was on top of me ... Shawn McLaughlin was above me and my arms were stretched out and crossed (behind my head),” the alleged victim recalled. “I was trying to say ‘ow’ or ‘why,’ but I couldn’t say anthing ... I tried to arch my back but I just felt paralyzed.”

When she turned her head to look at the television, she passed out. When she woke up, she was on the couch and Belak was still on top of her

“I didn’t have the ability to move or fight ... and then I blacked out again.”

The alleged victim stated that on the evening of the party, she was nearly seven days into her period, which would last two weeks.

“I won’t have sex when I have my period,” she told the court.

When asked the reason by Crown prosecutor Beck, she replied, “because I think it’s gross.”

But today in his cross-examination, Warren took issue with the woman’s version of events, calling her flirting at the party and accepting the invitation to Belak’s was an entrée to sexual intercourse, not the possibility the newcomer to Watson Lake would meet more people.

“There never was any intention of anybody else coming over (to Belak’s) and you knew it,” Warren said, noting the woman made no effort to call her husband, either from Walsh’s or Belak’s, to let him know where she would be.

“I don’t think I had any intention other than hanging out with them,” replied the woman, who had been in Watson Lake with her husband only a week before the incident.

Warren also took issue with the alleged victim’s reaction when her pants came off.

“So Shawn’s standing behind you with an erection, you’re talking about your crucifix and your pants come down ... you thought they were just joking around?” Warren pressed.

“At the time, yes,” she replied.

The alleged victim also denied she turned around to kiss McLaughlin’s neck before performing oral sex on him on Belak’s couch.

She also denied having sex with McLaughlin, then moving on to Belak’s bedroom, where Warren said the pair engaged in sex before Belak fell asleep.

“I’m just trying to be honest,” she responded when Warren appeared to doubt her claims.

“Yes, well that will be determined at a later date,” he replied.

Justice Leigh Gower is presiding over the trial.