Accused, complainant testify at sex assault trial

A man denied allegations that he pinned a woman down and sexually assaulted her during a trial on Thursday.

Kyle Robinson, 35, stood trial for sexual assault in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench. The complainant and accused each took the stand.

The woman alleged that while at the accused’s father’s house near Rapid City, the accused was performing oral sex on her when she told him she wanted to stop. She said he held her down and penetrated her until she was able to get away.

The woman said she met the accused a few months prior, and he was a regular at the bar where she worked. Besides seeing him a few times a week while working, they hung out a “handful of times,” she said.

On Aug. 20, 2023, the woman and the accused went to his father’s house to look for something the woman had left there.

While they were there, she said they hung out, had a beer and went on a side-by-side ride. At one point, they hugged and kissed, she said.

Back at the house, the two kissed again, and Robinson repeatedly asked her to “go upstairs,” she said, noting that she believed he was insinuating he wanted to have sex.

“I told him that we weren’t going to have sex,” she said.

He asked why not, and she explained that he had been ignoring her and she wasn’t going to “jump into bed with him.”

He offered to perform oral sex on her, which she declined because she thought he would want to have sex after, but eventually agreed after some persuading, she said.

Once inside the house, he pulled off her shorts and started performing oral sex on her, she said. This went on for about a minute or so before she decided she “didn’t want to do it anymore,” she said.

“I … pushed his head away and told him to stop,” she said. The accused’s pants were “somehow” off, and he came up and started to kiss her.

“I could feel his erection trying to penetrate, and I tried to push him away. I said, ‘No, stop, I’m not doing this,’” the woman testified. “I was trying to push him off of me, and he grabbed my hands, and he pinned them beside my head.”

She said she felt him vaginally penetrate her before she managed to get free of him and leave.

The next day, she said she spoke to police, and two days later, she officially filed a report. She gave a statement later that week.

On Aug. 28, 2023, the accused reached out to her over Facebook Messenger. The woman said he asked how she was, and when she said she was angry and asked why he was texting her, he said he wanted to apologize for “being a wiener” and make sure she was OK, court heard.

He asked if she called the police on him, and she said she did. He called her “insane,” she said, and asked why. “Because you wouldn’t stop when I said stop,” was her response, she said.

He proceeded to tell her she “better call that off,” she said.

Defence lawyer Jennifer Janssens asked the woman about the nature of her relationship with the accused.

The woman said they went on one date, and she thought they would go on more, but assumed he wasn’t interested when he didn’t respond to her several texts after.

When asked whether she knew if the accused was in a relationship at the time, she said she had heard rumours.

Janssens suggested a different version of events took place that involved no sexual activity other than some kissing before the woman got “agitated” and left.

“I’m going to suggest that you were upset because you were aware that Robinson was in a relationship,” Janssens said. “I’m going to suggest that after seeing them, that kind of reignited the anger and made you report it to police.”

Robinson also took the stand.

He said he didn’t have sexual intercourse with the woman that evening. He said they kissed on the couch for roughly a minute before she abruptly left.

“It was like a switch went off in her head. She just got frustrated,” he testified. He believed it was because he had accidentally mentioned his girlfriend’s name a couple times.

Robinson testified that on a prior occasion, the two were hanging out and the woman started crying. He asked what was wrong, and she said she didn’t know what she would do if she lost him, he testified.

“It felt like she obviously liked me, and she wanted to have a relationship in the future,” he said. Robinson added that he wanted to stay with his girlfriend and didn’t want any “trouble.”

He said this is why he didn’t return her messages.

He believed she was upset because he was cheating on his girlfriend with her, and that’s why she called police.

Crown attorney Reid Girard asked if the woman ever mentioned cheating being a criminal offence to the accused. He said she didn’t.

“But your evidence is that you believe she went to the police because you were cheating on your girlfriend and you only wanted to be friends?” Girard asked. The accused agreed.

When asked who initiated the kiss, Robinson said it was mutual and happened “in the heat of the moment.”

Girard asked if he was aroused during the kiss. The accused said he wasn’t.

“You were not aroused at any point, you simply just started kissing her because it was the heat of the moment?”

The accused said he kissed her as a friend.

Girard referred to the Facebook messages and pointed out that he didn’t ask the woman to clarify what she was referring to when she said she had asked him to stop.

In closing arguments, Janssens said Robinson’s evidence was clear and consistent, and there’s no reason not to believe his version of events.

While she said Robinson didn’t outright say it during his testimony, the court can infer that the woman was hurt because he didn’t want to be in a relationship with her, and when it became clear to her, she went to police and lied.

Janssens said the court should also be concerned about her reliability, as some of her details were inconsistent and she had a potential animus toward the accused.

“Even if this is not a complete fabrication, I would submit that the outcome of her interaction with Mr. Robinson has coloured her recollection of events on August 20 … perhaps at this point she’s convinced herself this is what happened.”

Girard said the woman was clear and straightforward on the substance of the allegations and had admitted to some of the surrounding details being foggy.

He said the woman added more details in her testimony than in her 20-minute police statement because she was being asked questions and certain details.

He said the accused’s evidence was “questionable” and self-serving.

“He tried to distance himself … from any sexual attraction to (the complainant),” he said. “He acknowledged that they were kissing in the heat of the moment, but then he refused to admit that he was sexually attracted to (her).”

Girard also said Robinson’s version of events didn’t coincide with the Facebook messages.

Justice Sandra Zinchuk reserved her decision.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com