Teen tried to rip other teen's pants down, St. Mike's sex assault trial hears
Accused has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges related to sexual assault
A teenage boy is testifying that his former teammate, who is accused of sexually assaulting two students in the locker room of a private Catholic school in Toronto, tried to rip his pants down.
The teen has told the virtual court he felt violated by the incident that occurred at St. Michael's College School in the fall of 2018.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to two counts each of gang sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon and assault with a weapon related to two incidents in which students were sexually assaulted with a broom handle.
The testifying teen told court on Monday that the accused had made hazing at the Toronto school more violent and more sexual.
He says he did not witness the sexual assaults, but saw the accused and three others circling one teen just before one of the incidents occurred.
No young person can be named due to provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
"I felt kind a violated by it and it took a whole year before I told anybody," he said.
The testifying teen said he saw plenty of boys get hit on their butts with brooms that season.
He said he and others were afraid of hazing by the leaders on the sports team.
Accused made fun of victim for being sexually assaulted: teen
On cross-examination from the defence, the teen said the accused made fun of the victim for being sexually assaulted.
"Do you remember saying 'what hurt harder, the slap or the broom?" defence lawyer Geary Tomlinson asked.
"I do not remember saying that," the teen replied.
In December, court heard one complainant describe to police being sexually assaulted with a broom handle by a group of students in the school's locker room in October 2018.
In the second recording, he recalled seeing a group sexually assault another student in a similar way the following month, also in the locker room.
The complainant was initially one of the suspects in the November 2018 incident, but the charges against him were dropped. Three teens have pleaded guilty to sexual assault with a weapon and assault with a weapon for their roles in the incidents and have been sentenced to two years of probation.
One of them also pleaded guilty to making child pornography for recording one of the sex assaults in a video that was then widely distributed.
Another student received a two-year probationary sentence with no jail time after pleading guilty. The charges against another student, aside from the one who testified, were withdrawn.