The jury trial of Dion Roberts on a charge of sexual assault began Monday in Whitehorse.

Monday’s proceedings were purely jury selection. On Tuesday, the trial itself began before Justice Leigh Gower in Yukon Supreme Court.

The name of the complainant cannot be published.

Crown prosecutor Paul Battin told the jury the Crown’s job was to show that an offence had taken place on Feb. 8, 2016 in Whitehorse.

He said the facts will show that a young woman wanted to go out with friends and play pool at a pub. The night should have been just a fun night outside of their house, Battin said.

“We’ve all had one of those nights,” he said.

He believes what ended up happening that night could have happened to anyone.

Roberts, 30, was known to the complainant. Both returned to the complainant’s residence and socialized, court was told.

Eventually, they fell asleep. The complainant woke up with a male in her bed and believed she had been sexually assaulted.

The male would end up being removed from the apartment by one of the complainant’s roommates. The name of the roommate cannot be published because doing so could identify the complainant. The complainant would eventually go to Whitehorse General Hospital and have a rape kit administered.

Battin continued his opening statement by saying this trial is about consent – not about how much alcohol was consumed that night or any other topic. Consent is the only thing the jury must consider, he said.

On Tuesday, the Crown called three witnesses: the complainant, the roommate and the RCMP officer who took the complainant’s statement.

Const. Trudy Pike was the first witness, appearing in court via video. She has since been transfered from the Whitehorse RCMP detachment to Nova Scotia.

Pike said she became involved in the matter on March 13, 2016. The complainant arrived at the detachment at 10:50 p.m. and wanted to speak with a female officer to report an alleged sexual assault.

Pike interviewed her that night and took a police statement.

Crown counsel Amy Porteous asked if she was concerned about the complainant’s state of mind. Pike said she was not.

She mentioned she was emotional and cried at times, but her statement was detailed. The constable could tell this event had affected her, and it was tough to relive, she testified.

Pike took photos of the complainant’s cellphone. She had received texts from Roberts, the man she said was behind the assault.

Pike explained that there was enough information gathered from the interview to effect an arrest.

Roberts was known to Pike. She said she knew him because he is a correctional officer at the processing unit at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.

She did not remember any face-to-face dealings with him in any other capacity but through her job.

Pike carried out the arrest on March 14, 2016. She called Roberts beforehand. She only had a phone number.

She informed him that he needed to answer questions and he would be arrested. She also was trying to get a sense of where he lived.

Pike said Roberts expressed concern because his daughter was at his residence and he did not want her to witness an arrest.

He agreed to surrender himself to police at the detachment instead. He would do so at around 8:30 that night, according to Pike.

Pike reported that Roberts did want to speak with a legal aid official, but no one could not be reached.

Three attempts were made to contact the legal aid office. Roberts would eventually speak with police without a lawyer.

Porteous asked about his demeanor. Pike said he was calm and engaged.

He made eye contact when leaning forward, and the interview last 45 minutes.

After the interview, Roberts was fingerprinted, photographed and released. Pike would also interview the roommate.

Under the defence’s cross-examination, Pike added that Roberts was careful in how he spoke and what he spoke about. She also said she was aware that the complainant had been drinking the day of the interview. She had been upfront about it and understood it was a stressful situation.

The next witness called was the roommate. Battin asked her to go through the evening of Feb. 8, 2016.

The roommate explained that she and the other two women she lived with wanted to go out to play pool at a nearby pub.

This was at 8 p.m. The roommate had worked that day and joined them after her shift, court was told.

She said she is not the partying type and eventually called it a night at around 10:30 p.m. She had to work in the morning.

She arrived back at her home alone and went to sleep at approximately 11:30 p.m.

She testified that she had been woken up several times that night – first when her roommates returned from the pub.

She said they were drunk and recognized their distinct laughter. She texted them to keep it down. She didn’t report hearing a third person with her two roommates, she testified.

She fell back asleep but was woken up again when she felt someone cuddled up next to her. This scared her, because she had gone to bed alone.

A face was right below her right ear, and their bodies were touching, she told the court.

She pushed the person’s chest region, and when she did not feel breasts, she knew this was a male.

She saw that he had dark hair and spoke incoherently, she testified. The male tried to say who he was, but she didn’t understand him.

She asked him to leave her room and he stumbled out. She said this man was wearing pants but no shirt.

She said this was at around 4 a.m. because she checked her phone. She said she would not fall back asleep but would doze off.

She would be woken up again later. She testified that this time, someone was near her left leg. She felt someone down there.

She moved her leg, and the individual’s head lifted up. This time, she told the court, she saw a face because there was more light.

She did not recognize this man, but he had the same haircut as the male from earlier. She did not remember if he was wearing pants. She said this was at 5 a.m.

Battin asked if that person was in the courtroom. She pointed to Roberts.

She said she told him to leave her room. He stumbled out, and she would go on to take a shower. She locked the door, and was there for 30 to 45 minutes.

When she came out of the shower and went to her room, she found the complainant in her (the roommate’s) room crying uncontrollably on her bed.

“I was confused,” she said.

The complainant was crying hard and was out of breath. The roommate was able to get from this that someone was in the complainant’s room.

The roommate went to look and found the male from earlier naked on the complainant’s bed. She proceeded to kick him out of the residence.

She said the male acted confused. She repeated that she wanted him to get up, get dressed and leave. He started getting dressed.

She thought he was drunk based on how he was stumbling around. She could also smell it on his breath, she testified.

He would leave the residence, but would forget his keys and wallet.

He returned to get his keys at 6 a.m. The roommate learned his name because of the identification in his wallet she found after returning the keys.

She went back to check on the complainant and found she was asleep.

The roommate would go to work. When she returned from her job, the complainant was not home. She texted her, she told the court.

The complainant returned home and they talked. Eventually, she decided to go to the hospital for access to a rape kit.

She said this was not normal behaviour for the complainant. The roommate admitted they were not the best of friends, but she had recognized the crying was a call for help.

This trial is set to continue throughout the rest of the week.