Sex was bid to avoid beatings, alleged torture victim tells court

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This article was published 02/11/2011 (5437 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WARNING: This story contains details that may be offensive to some readers.

 

CALGARY — A man the Crown alleges was tortured by his former roommate says he was beaten so viciously he thought he was going to die and he submitted to performing sex acts in the hope that would make the attacks stop.

“Personally, I thought it was disgusting. I was in survival mode,” the man, who can’t be named, told court Tuesday. “I would do anything not to get beaten any more.”

It was his second day testifying at the trial of Dustin Paxton, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault, sexual assault and forcible confinement. The charges were laid after the man was dumped — starved, battered and beaten — at a Regina hospital in the spring of 2010.

Tuesday was the first time the witness discussed the allegations of sexual assault. He said Paxton would require him to provide sexual favours that “escalated” over time.

Court has already heard how the man, 28, considered Paxton, 31, a close friend when the two knew one another in Winnipeg.

When asked to describe how he views Paxton now he replied: “Evil. He’s smart, mean, twisted.”

The alleged victim testified on Monday that the beatings started in October 2008 on the day he joined Paxton in Calgary and the two started a business together. He said he was soon sharing a house with Paxton and the beatings were an everyday occurrence.

The worst beating came a year after he moved west and put him in the hospital for months, he said Tuesday.

“He gave me the huge punch to the face that cracked my skull,” he said. “I was beat up with a two-by-four that broke every one of my ribs and ruptured my bowel. He probably hit me 25 times. He was hitting me in all different ways. I was standing there and I had to let him hit me.”

He remembered lying on the floor for nearly a day afterward in what he called “insane pain.”

“I thought I was going to die. I was in so much pain. I couldn’t breathe. “I said, ‘Dude, I’m not doing so good. Call an ambulance.”‘

The witness said he passed out on the way to the hospital and woke up three days later. He had a cracked skull and his eye socket was totally crushed. The hospital was told that a pizza oven had fallen on him. The series of surgeries that followed kept him a patient for a couple of months.

During Tuesday’s testimony, Paxton grew visibly agitated, grimacing and shaking his head when allegations of sexual assault were discussed. At one point, an angry Paxton jumped to his feet but was quickly ordered to sit down by security personnel.

 

— The Canadian Press