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The civilian sexual assault trial of a Canadian Forces soldier began Monday in a Barrie, Ont., courtroom, with the accuser taking the witness stand to describe an attack inside a broom closet on a military base.
Cpl. Oleksii Silin is facing one charge of aggravated sexual assault and once charge of forcible confinement stemming from an alleged May 2018 incident at CFB Borden, a military base about 100 kilometres north of Toronto.
Silin, 44, has pleaded not guilty and elected to be tried by judge alone.
The Ontario Court of Justice trial, before Justice Robert Gattrell, is scheduled to run until Thursday.
Silin was charged after the alleged victim, Elle Jaszberenyi, filed for a private prosecution in October 2022 and the Crown’s office in Barrie agreed to take on the case.
Jaszberenyi, who was a soldier at the time of the alleged incident, made the rare move after the military refused to prosecute her sexual assault allegation following a 2018 investigation.
Her attempts to reopen the case through the Military Police Complaints Commission, a quasi-judicial civilian oversight body, and the Federal Court also failed.
It was the first time that a military sexual assault case in Canada was reopened through a private prosecution, according Bruce Boyden, Jaszberenyi’s lawyer at the time.
A private prosecution provides an avenue for members of the public who believe a crime has been committed to attempt filing charges against an individual without a police investigation.
Jaszberenyi, who has since left the Canadian Forces, requested that the publication ban be lifted on her name. The names of sexual assault victims are generally covered by publication bans during court proceedings.
Documents obtained by CBC News reveal details of military investigations into two separate, alleged sexual misconduct incidents, giving a rare look into Canada’s military justice system and how that system could be failing victims of sexual assault.
‘I just wanted to survive’
During her testimony from the witness stand, Jaszberenyi said Silin “pulled … and then pushed” her into a barracks broom closet after they shared a drink in a common room to celebrate the completion of a training milestone.
“I started hitting him on the head and upper torso saying, ‘No, no, no,'” said Jaszberenyi, 60, during her testimony.
“I just wanted to survive, that was it.”
Silin has admitted to being in the broom closet with Jaszberenyi on the date of the incident.
“I believe the issue in this case, your honour, to be consent,” said Crown attorney Julie Janiuk.
Silin’s lawyer, Mitchell Worsoff, began his cross-examination of Jaszberenyi late Monday afternoon.
His opening questions focused on several text messages exchanged between the two and visits to each other’s rooms during training at CFB Shilo in Manitoba, before they were both sent to CFB Borden.
“You were content to hang out with Mr. Silin and he appeared to be content to hang out with you, as well,” said Worsoff during cross-examination.
Jaszberenyi responded saying she felt she had no choice but to try to get along with all her fellow soldiers during training.
“You don’t want anyone to turn against you and hate you, because things can turn dangerous very quickly,” she said.
The cross-examination of Jaszberenyi continues Tuesday morning.
Worsoff said his client, Silin, is planning to take the stand in his own defence and could begin his testimony Tuesday afternoon.
A woman who says she was sexually assaulted while in the military found hope when her case was moved to civilian court. But a judge stayed the charges because of lengthy delays. As dozens of other cases follow, experts say the government needs to speed up a proposed legal reform that would give civilian courts jurisdiction over military sexual assault cases.
Military prosecutor rejected case
Investigators with the Canadian Forces National Investigations Service (CFNIS), who initially probed the 2018 incident, believed they had a solid case against Silin based on some statements he made during an interrogation.
However, a military prosecutor rejected charges after concluding that Jaszberenyi “subjectively consented” during the incident.
The prosecutor based the determination on statements Jaszberenyi made to military police investigators. The prosecutor’s legal reasoning remains hidden from public scrutiny.
An investigative assessment by the Military Police Complaints Commission in June 2020 found flaws in the way the CFNIS handled Jaszberenyi’s case, citing shortcomings in interviews with both Jaszberenyi and Silin, as well as a failure to track down potential witnesses.
“The sexual assault investigation … was inadequate,” said the assessment.