A Whitehorse jury has found a Carcross man guilty of sexual assault after two days of deliberation.

His name is not being published, as the offence took place in a small community and publication could identify the complainant.

Yukon Supreme Court Justice Edith Campbell presided over the trial, which was scheduled for two weeks. The trial began with 12 jurors but one had to be excused. Only 11 jurors deliberated.

Before deliberations began, Campbell read her final instructions to the jury. This advised the members on the laws they would have to interpret and apply. She also touched on several factors of the case.

The sexual assault took place on Dec. 2, 2017 in a Carcross residence.

The complainant said she was at the residence to drink alcohol. She claims she went to bed alone. She told the court that she was awakened by a group of people.

She was shown a photo.

This picture was of the complainant and a man spooning in the bed she was sleeping in. The complainant, in the photo, had her leggings lowered and the male in the photo was groping her chest, under her clothes.

She said, when she was woken up, the man was groping her but her pants were pulled up. He also had his pants on.

She told the court that she did not know what had happened until she was shown the photo. She said she never consented to activity captured in the picture.

She went to the Carcross Health Centre to get medical attention afterwards.

The accused, who testified in his own defence, said he passed out that night in a bed in the back room. The man, in his 50s, denied ever touching the woman.

He said he was alone when he fell asleep that night. He added that the complainant was not in the house at the time. He said he was there to drink.

He told the court that he was woken up the next morning by four people. He claims these individuals were beating on him.

He admitted that the complainant was at the house during this time.

Shown the same photo, he denied being the man in it. He denied both groping and pulling down the leggings of the complainant.

The man who took the photo testified during the trial. He told the court that he took the photo and woke everyone up because he thought what was happening was wrong.

In her instructions to the jurors, Campbell told them they would be the judge of the facts. They would have to answer the fundamental question of the case: did the man sexually assault the complainant?

Campbell pointed out that most of the witnesses, called during the trial, all said both the man and the woman were drinking at the same Carcross residence during the night in question.

She advised that although the accused has a criminal record, it can’t be used to determine guilt. It can only be used as a tool to assess his credibility.

She told the jury that Crown prosecutors Amy Porteous and Paul Battin had to prove several elements for them to reach a guilty verdict.

They had to prove that the man intentionally applied force to the woman, that she did not consent to the force and he knew she did not consent.

Campbell explained that consent involves the complainant’s state of mind. The jury would have to consider if she was free to agree or disagree to what was going on. They would have to look at whether she was able to make a decision of her own free will.

She pointed out that despite being only 16 years old at the time of the sexual assault, the woman was still over the age of consent. This means, she explained, the complainant could have legally consented to the sexual activity.

She added that both the complainant and the accused are of First Nations descent and deserve the same treatment and respect that non-Indigenous Canadians are given.

The 11-member jury began its deliberations Wednesday evening.

The jury was sequestered overnight and deliberations continued Thursday morning.

In the early afternoon, the jury informed the court that it had reached an impasse. Campbell asked the jury to continue deliberating to try to reach a verdict. She encouraged each member to listen to one another and to keep an open mind.

“I have no doubt that you have taken your deliberation seriously,” Campbell said.

She recognized that they have worked long hours.

She explained that she could discharge the jury if it was obvious further deliberation would go nowhere. She did not feel the jury had gotten to this point yet, and refused to discharge the members.

The jury was able to deliver its guilty verdict later that afternoon.

The man’s lawyers, Kelly Labine and Mark Chandler, were not in a position to move forward with sentencing after the verdict.

Labine said there needs to be a Gladue report, and suggested the sentencing hearing take place in Carcross.

The matter will be back in court on Nov. 19 to set a date for sentencing.