BRIDGEWATER — The trial of former Bridgewater police chief John Collyer continued Friday with cross-examination of the complainant — a 20-year-old woman — about her graphic account of the alleged sexual assault.
The woman, 17 at the time, fought back tears as defence lawyer David Bright focused his questions on her testimony in court versus statements she provided to law enforcement.
The complainant testified earlier in Nova Scotia Supreme Court that Collyer was a family friend and a “fatherly figure” to her.
However, she testified that while driving together in May 2016, Collyer penetrated her with his fingers.
Collyer is also charged with sexual exploitation and has pleaded not guilty to both offences.
Speaking to reporters after the cross-examination, Crown attorney Roland Levesque said he thought the complainant did well under the circumstances.
“My general impression was that the complainant came across quite credibly,” he told reporters.
“Obviously, she appeared to be quite upset when issues arose as to the circumstances surrounding the sexual assault.”
Justice Mona Lynch stopped the cross-examination several times to give the complainant, who was at times upset and agitated with Bright, breaks to collect herself.
"Obviously, she appeared to be quite upset when issues arose as to the circumstances surrounding the sexual assault."
- Crown attorney Roland Levesque
Bright asked the woman several questions about Collyer’s actions leading up to and following the alleged penetration, as she had previously testified that he licked his fingers and said “you taste sweet.”
Bright asked why the woman did not tell the same story to police during a 2016 statement.
She indicated to police at the time she couldn’t remember Collyer’s actions immediately following the alleged sexual assault.
But the complainant said Friday she remembers what happened “plain as day” but wasn’t ready to talk about it to police back then.
The woman said she kept the incident a secret for months and only disclosed what happened after her mother discovered messages from Collyer sometime later.
Bright also revisited the woman’s testimony that she was given permission by legal advisers to delete her Facebook messaging history with Collyer.
The Serious Incident Response Team’s investigation revealed that nearly 600 Facebook messages were exchanged between Collyer and complainant, and that all the messages were deleted from the woman’s phone.
The complainant originally said she thought Levesque and lead investigator Sgt. Gord Vail told her she could delete them, but she later admitted that was a mistake.
She in turn asked Bright why she wouldn’t want to delete something that made her “sad and depressed,” and said investigators already had copies.
Continuing to talk about her Facebook interactions with Collyer, Bright tried to establish whether the complainant tried to contact his client after the alleged sexual assault or before her statement to the police.
The woman acknowledged she had tried to message Collyer.
After Bright’s cross-examination, Levesque followed up to clarify a few of the complainant’s answers — especially about Collyer’s actions after the alleged incident.
She reaffirmed her earlier testimony and told the court she was “only a child” at the time.
The trial is expected to continue Monday with testimony from a retired RCMP officer who interviewed Collyer. The entire five-hour interview will be played in court, and the trial will then be adjourned until September.
Levesque said he and Bright are optimistic enough time has been set aside to meet the Nov. 3 deadline set by the Jordan decision.
“There was a lot of time used up on issues that perhaps weren’t considered initially,” the prosecutor said.
Bright declined to speak to reporters.
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