Vernon man claims sex was consensual, but judge disagrees

CONTENT ADVISORY

A Vernon man who claimed the sex he had with a friend’s roommate was consensual has been found guilty of sexual assault.

According to a Sept. 26 BC Supreme Court decision, Dalton Charlebois argued the victim had led him into the bedroom the night they had sex, and they were both very drunk.

However, the victim, whose name is covered under a court-ordered publication ban, said she was asleep when she woke up to Charlebois having sex with her.

A key piece of evidence presented at the trial was a video message the victim sent to a friend the night of the sexual assault.

In the message, she said she had been drinking heavily with Charlebois at two other friends.

“I went to bed without Dalton, thank(fully),” she said in the voice message to her friend. She passed out after sending it.

The decision says the sexual assault happened in 2020, when the victim was 19 years old and living with a friend of Charlebois.

She knew Charlebois as an acquaintance from work.

The lengthy 20,000-word decision goes through a play-by-play account of the evening, as the victim, Charlebois, and the two roommates Briony Drummond and Josh Erwin testified in court.

The four were drinking heavily throughout the evening and having a good time.

“Throughout the course of the night, she perceived that Mr. Charlebois was sexually interested in her because he was flirting with her and putting his hand on her leg while the others were encouraging them to kiss,” Justice Richard Flower said in the decision.

There were some inconsistencies about whether the victim was kissing Charlebois while on the couch, but it was confirmed she’d gone to bed without him.

She sent one video message from the bathroom to a friend, saying she was uncertain about whether she was going to have sex with Charlebois.

Ten minutes later, she sent another video message saying she was glad she’d gone to bed alone before passing out.

Justice Flower said it was clear the victim was “very intoxicated” in the video message.

Sometime that night she woke up with Charlebois having sex with her, and then woke up the next morning in pain.

It was three years later she went to police.

Charlebois argued that the sex was consensual, and that the victim had led him into her room.

He said that after sending the video message, she got out of bed to get food or water or go to the bathroom and then led him to her bedroom.

However, the Justice didn’t buy it. Another witness said he was certain Charlebois went into the room alone, looking for “a cuddle”.

“Most importantly, (the victim’s) state of mind was that she was relieved she had not gone to bed with Mr. Charlebois. While I accept that intoxication may cause people to act in ways they otherwise may not when sober, and intoxication may cause people to act impulsively, it is noteworthy that (the victim’s) expression of relief that she had not gone to bed with Mr. Charlebois was also made while she was intoxicated,” the Justice said. “It is not reasonable to infer that moments after expressing her relief that she had gone to bed without Mr. Charlebois, in a state of waning consciousness, she would have got out of bed and brought Mr. Charlebois into her bedroom.”

The Justice was also critical of much of Charlebois’ testimony.

“Mr. Charlebois continually referring to (the victim) as acting ‘reciprocal’ struck me as entirely contrived. He was not testifying about what he was able to recall happening, but rather Mr. Charlebois went out of his way to characterize (the victim’s) behaviour in a way that was entirely self-serving,” the Justice said. “He continually used the word ‘reciprocal’ to attempt to convince the Court that (she) was consenting.”

After parsing through all the evidence, the justice found Charlebois guilty of sexual assault.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

NOTE TO READERS: To connect with a victim service program or violence against women program call VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808. VictimLink BC provides information and referrals to all victims, as well as immediate crisis response to victims of sexual and family violence.