NANAIMO — A former local junior hockey player has been acquitted on a sexual assault charge following a trial.
Justice Douglas Thompson announced the verdict in B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo on Thursday, June 20, almost two months since the trial began against Kenneth Leslie Boychuk, 20, of Edmonton, Alberta.
The judge concluded the complainant made several inaccurate and embellished statements during the police investigation and at the trial linked to an alleged violent sexual attack against a then 17-year-old girl at her Nanaimo home on Jan 31, 2023.
Boychuk was 18 at the time.
“I want to it to clearly understood that I do not make a positive finding that the alleged sexual assault did not happen. The evidence leads me to significant uncertainty about which parts of the complainant’s evidence can be counted upon as reliable.”
The judge said conflicting statements of how some of her bruises formed on her body, claims she recounted about losing consciousness several times during the incident, along with a false claim to the Nananimo Buccaneers coach that she had already spoken to police cast doubt on her account of occurred.
“I conclude that the complainant statement to police that the accused forced her medication down her throat and made her drink water are exaggerated and false narrative details created by the complainant,” justice Thompson said.
Boychuk pleaded not guilty to one count of sexual assault in relation to the alleged attack, originally opting to be tried by a jury, then re-electing for the case to be heard by judge alone.
He was playing for the Nanaimo Buccaneers of the VIJHL at the time.
During the opening day of the trial, court heard a video-recorded interview between the unnamed woman and a local RCMP officer.
She made several claims regarding the nature and length of the alleged incident, but was unsure on some details.
Court heard the two hadn’t met prior to the alleged assault which occurred when the complainant was supposed to be at school.
The complainant’s credibility was questioned a few weeks into the trial as she was cross-examined by defence attorney Rory Ziv.
Ziv questioned her timeline of the events, including when the incident was reported to police, after she was said to confront the Buccaneers coach at a game on Feb. 2.
– More to come
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Ian.holmes@pattisonmedia.com
On Twitter: @reporterholmes
