This is such a crazy clusterfuck of a court case, we're going to do something we almost never do: take the entire article relaying the facts of the case and present them to you, without abbreviation. You have to read every word to get the full picture...
Having sex with a drunken 14-year-old he had plied with alcohol was
not a criminal offence by [a] former Calgary man, a judge ruled yesterday.
Justice Peter McIntyre said there was insufficient evidence the girl didn't consent to having sex with Trevor Byron Niebergall.
But McIntyre did find Niebergall guilty of sexual assault for placing
his genitals on the girl's face after she passed out -- an act the
offender captured on his cellphone camera and showed to co-workers.
McIntyre said the fact the
teenage complainant didn't remember her sexual encounter with
Niebergall at a December 2005 New Year's Eve party did not mean she
hadn't consented.
He noted one witness said she
appeared to have the capacity to consent when she and Niebergall went
to a washroom in his brother's apartment, where they had sex. And the
Queen's Bench judge said the girl willingly consumed large amounts of
alcohol supplied by Niebergall even after he made lewd sexual comments.
Hold it! Let's break it down: there was insufficient evidence she didn't consent (rather than the other way around)... he put his dick on her face when she was asleep (but apparently that's not painting a picture for the judge of a pervert here)... she didn't remember having sex but still was somehow sober enough to consent... she was not too drunk to walk to a bathroom, which apparently means she was okay to operate sexual machinery... okay, okay, he was found guilty of assaulting her with that whole penis thing, so we'll say no more for now.
She said on three occasions the accused said he would drink with her if she performed a sexual act on him.
"The accused's lewd comments towards her did not compel her to leave,"
the judge said. "The complainant was not forced to consume alcohol --
she drank ... beer willingly and then switched to alcohol. It is not at
all clear why she drank so heavily."
Because she was a drunk fourteen-year-old girl hanging out with older men and did not leave before they screwed her, there's no crime. Also, beer is not alcohol?
Niebergall, then 19, showed
photographs of the teen, naked and passed out, to co-workers the
following day, bragging he had had sex with her six times.
Nope, no punishment or even a charge for displaying this photo without permission.
But in his testimony he said
they only had sex twice, one in the bathroom and later when other
partygoers had left and both times with her consent.
Ha ha. Well, at least he couldn't exaggerate the size of his manhood, since it's in the picture.
McIntyre said because the
girl drank so heavily and had little recollection of events at the
party, he could not accept her claim she didn't agree to have sex.
"Her evidence was not reliable after she started drinking," he said.
Crown prosecutor Susan Kennedy said a 45- to 60-day jail term is
warranted for the incident which occurred after the teen passed out.
Defence lawyer Pat Flynn has
requested a pre-sentence report before making his full submissions. The
case returns to court on Oct. 14.
We understand that drunkenness taints the case and the fact that the girl doesn't remember what happened really hurts the prosecution's chances of a conviction for anything, but that still doesn't mean we like the verdict.
Remember that, girls-- there's a new sheriff in town. Drink so much as a beer and get violated in every orifice (sorry for that imagery), the courts won't be there to protect you.
Via The Calgary Sun.
