A Whitehorse man, charged with the sexual assault of a girl under the age of 16, took the witness stand Wednesday and Thursday to tell his side of the story.

Yun Huang, 24, appeared before Yukon Supreme Court Deputy Justice Bonnie Tulloch and a jury.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the court heard from RCMP Const. Kelly Manweiller, the final Crown witness. She took the statement from the complainant on Jan. 25, 2018.

This concluded the Crown’s case, enabling the defence to call evidence.

Huang told the court he is originally from China, and first came to Canada on Feb. 24, 2013 to pursue post-secondary studies. He set up his education in Vancouver.

He said he studied English as a second language for over a year at Langara College, then pursued two years of studies in hospitality management at Vancouver Community College.

The accused came to the Yukon on July 9, 2016 for employment. He works as a night auditor at a local hotel.

He explained that he rents a room from a family. It’s on the ground floor, and the family lives on the first floor.

When it came to the incident between himself and the girl, Huang claims “she did not react” to any of his advancements on her.

When he touched her body, he added, she smirked at him.

When he and the girl kissed, she “responded.” He did not clarify what that meant.

He testified that the girl took off her own pants before intercourse.

“She did it herself,” Huang said.

He agreed that she asked him to use a condom. He told the court he pulled one out of his backpack and put it on. He believed the sexual activity that followed was consensual.

He said they got dressed after having sex and laid down beside each other.

He said she laid her head down on his shoulder, and both of them focused on their phones. He thought she was browsing on Snapchat, a social media platform.

He told the court that the girl showed him some posts on social media and told her she had to go home for dinner. He took her home.

He explained they waited for five minutes before leaving the house, due to the family being near his room. He said he was not supposed to have any guests at the residence under any circumstance.

Once the family left the vicinity of his room, the pair left, and he drove her home. He dropped her off at the entrance to her neighbourhood asked the girl to text him when she got home.

The complainant told the court Monday that she did not have Huang pick her up nor drop her off at her residence because she did not want him to know where she lived.

He said she texted him later, asking for his age, and he wrongly told her he was 22.

She next messaged him that their sexual encounter had been illegal due to her being under 16.

He explained he misunderstood this text as her complaining about the experience, and he apologized to her. He said he was too tired at the time to read her text properly.

Under cross-examination by Crown prosecutor Amy Porteous, Huang said he was aware that the complainant was still in school. He said he did not know which school she attended.

He added that the girl only told him she was in school. She did not reveal her grade nor any other specific information, Huang testified.

Porteous asked if the girl’s speech pattern hinted to Huang that she was a teenager. He said he did not know the complainant’s age, adding that he did not speculate about her age.

He explained that the girl had told him that she could drink alcohol. He figured after hearing about her drinking and partying that she should have been 19, the legal drinking age in the territory.

He adds that he did not ask because people lie about their age.

Porteous asked if Huang believes his assessment of the age of caucasian people is reliable.

Huang said he has trouble determining the age of white people. He said he tends to estimate a white person, male or female, is older than he or she is.

Porteous asked if he had a romantic interest in the complainant. He clarified that he had no such interest in her, nor did he want to be a boyfriend.

During re-examination, Huang’s lawyer, Andre Roothman, asked if he would have expected a 14-year-old to tell him that she wanted nothing sexual to happen before meeting in person. Huang said he would not expect that.

Roothman next asked if Huang had any female friends who were still in high school during his time in Vancouver or Whitehorse.

Huang said he does have friends in high school in both cities, which concluded the case for the defence.

The Crown and defence made their final arguments Thursday afternoon.

Tulloch was set to give instructions to the jury this morning, with jury deliberation to follow.