Day 3: Husband on trial for sexually assaulting wife says sex acts in videos were consensual

The Saskatoon man accused of sexually assaulting his wife and recording it without her knowledge says the sex acts were consensual and that she was never unconscious or too intoxicated to give her consent.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his wife, also testified that his wife applied the makeup she was wearing in the videos herself and was aware that the sex acts were being filmed.

He took the stand Wednesday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench as the first defence witness at his trial for sexual assault and uttering death threats.
 
The accused said the videos were part of the couple’s private life and included his wife dressing up in bright makeup and wearing fake eyelashes and nails. He said she put those items on willingly; a video clip the judge allowed as admissible evidence shows the woman applying lipstick. But she testified that she had no memory of doing so, saying she appeared passed-out or drunk in the sex videos played during the trial.

The Crown asked her husband about a makeup bag found in the trunk of a car that was parked in the driveway of their home. The woman said she had never seen the bag or its contents, which included the lipstick from the video. Her husband testified that it was their “sex makeup” and had been thrown in the trunk during their move to rural Saskatchewan and forgotten about. He said his wife wore her own makeup during the videos made at that home.

But the Crown suggested he was hiding the makeup from her, along with other items that police seized from the trunk. The makeup was found in a bag that included his kids’ passports and other personal paperwork. Silver coins and weight loss pills were also discovered in the trunk.

The accused said the bag did belong to him, but denied hiding its contents from his wife. He said she had a key and could access the car whenever she wanted. But earlier in the trial, his wife testified that she did not have a key to the car.

The man was also questioned about the videos. He said his wife would often take them herself, but accepted the Crown’s statement that he must have been the one holding the phone in the videos that pertain to the trial.

When asked how he could have gotten consent to take a photo of his naked, sleeping wife, the accused said he thought that was okay. He went on to state that in an intimate relationship, consent is always assumed unless his wife said “no.”

“What I like isn’t always what my wife likes,” the man told an RCMP officer who was asking him about the couple’s sex life. But in court, the accused insisted that if his wife wasn’t enjoying herself, she would let him know, and if she didn’t want to do something she wouldn’t do it.

“You didn’t care what your wife thought,” Crown prosecutor Frank Impey said, challenging the accused. “She was there to please you.”

Getting emotional on the stand, the man said his wife was angry with him for not allowing her to take their kids back to Ireland. Court heard she went to her homeland in 2013 to visit family over the Christmas holidays. She said she left early because the accused had threatened her. But her husband testified she left without involving him because she didn’t like living in Canada, and he was worried that she wouldn’t return.

The couple went to family court in July 2014. The defence accused the alleged victim of not reporting her sexual assault allegations to police until after an interim court order was made, which prevented her children from leaving the country.

RCMP Const. Dean Kletzel said the woman had contacted him in June 2014 when she left her home in rural Saskatchewan and came to Saskatoon. He escorted her to the home so that she could pick up some belongings, but she did not want to give a statement at the time, he said.

A few days later in early July, the woman made a statement to Saskatoon police. Const. Andrew Dubnyk testified that she reported being scared for her and her kids’ safety and had concerns about her husband’s mental health. He also said she told him she believed her husband had drugged, sexually assaulted and video recorded her.

But Dubnyk said there was not enough evidence to lay charges. Upon re-examination by the Crown, the woman said she wrote down her story and sent it to an inspector in Ireland, including the details about her husband’s connection to the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend in that country. That inspector forwarded the statement to RCMP, which resulted in a police interview in August 2014.

Cross-examination of the accused will continue on Friday.