Warning: This story contains graphic language and content some readers may find disturbing
THUNDER BAY – The alleged victim in the sexual assault case against two former University of Ottawa hockey players recalls saying she “didn’t want it to happen” and felt helpless as two men were on top of her.
The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, took the stand at the Thunder Bay Courthouse on Thursday during the fourth day of the trial against David Foucher and Guillaume Donovan, who each stand charged with one count of sexual assault.
“I remember vividly saying ‘I don’t want this to happen,’” she told the court.
The woman, who police said was 21 years old at the time of the Feb. 2, 2014 incident, connected with a member of the visiting Ottawa team on an online dating app and arranged to meet after the Gee-Gees played a Saturday night game against the Lakehead Thunderwolves.
She and that player, Taylor Collins, met up at a local bar where they each had drinks. Before leaving the bar, she met a man who was introduced to her as the team’s captain. She said that man, who was big and had red hair, was belligerently drunk, was acting foolish and she remembered making a comment about his deep voice and French accent.
She and Collins returned to the team’s hotel and believed they were alone in the room engaging in sexual activity when she opened her eyes and noticed another man standing naked in the corner.
At that point Collins stopped, got up and exited the room. She testified a man then approached her from the foot of the bed, climbed on top of her and began having sexual intercourse with her.
“Did you agree to have vaginal intercourse with this person?” Crown prosecutor Marc Huneault asked.
“I did not,” she replied.
The woman said another man then straddled her face with his hips, forcing her to perform oral sex.
“Just do it. It’s Taylor’s roommate,” she recalled somebody saying with what she described as a deep, French voice.
Including Collins, there could have been as many as four men in the room, she said. There was no other verbal communication from any of the men, she added.
“I wasn’t really sure what was happening because I was with Taylor and then he was gone,” she told the court. “I felt helpless because I thought I was with him and then he was gone. I didn’t feel like I could say anything because there were too many of them to say no or be able to react in any way.”
She didn’t see what any of the men looked like in the dark room. She said when it was over the lights came on and the room was empty except for one man she didn’t look at. She quickly gathered her clothes and belongings before running out of the room.
The woman went around the corner of the hallway and while crying called a friend to come pick her up from the hotel. She then entered a stairwell, where she sat on the top step and continued to cry.
She used the dating app to message Collins, asking him what had happened and to come to the stairwell. They talked – he said he didn’t know what happened – and she left when her friend arrived.
She exited the hotel through a side door, where she saw a man standing outside wearing a University of Ottawa hockey jacket. She said she walked up and slapped him in the face.
“I said ‘that’s for you and your teammates,’” she told the court.
Her friend went into the hotel to talk to the team’s coach and took the woman to the hospital. While in the emergency room waiting area, she observed Ottawa hockey players in team jackets that she had previously seen at the hotel trying to help a passed out teammate. She hid behind her friend out of fear that she would be recognized.
The woman and her friend ultimately left before she was examined because there was no nurse available on-call to perform the required tests. They returned to the hospital hours later but the woman declined a detailed physical examination.
“I was scared to be touched,” she said.
The woman’s testimony is scheduled to continue on Friday.
