In court Wednesday, a man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a girl in Kirkland Lake, Ont. She was 11 years old at the time of the attack.
Jeffery Lapointe was charged in September 2022 after the victim, who can’t be named, came forward. She said Lapointe raped her in June 2021 in his bedroom.
In recounting the evidence from the trial, Superior Court Justice Robin A. Bellows said she believed the victim’s version of events, even though there were some inconsistencies in her time estimations.
The victim, now 15, testified that she was with her boyfriend when she was walking up a flight of stairs near Lapointe’s residence. His two dogs came running down the stairs, causing her to fall back and injure her ankle.
Injured ankle
Her boyfriend brought her to Lapointe’s place and told her to rest on his bed while the boyfriend went to get help.
It was while he was gone that Lapointe entered the room and forcibly had intercourse with her, the victim testified.
While she was inconsistent on some issues – such as whether the attack happened in early June or late June – the judge said she was consistent on the most important elements.
The victim admitted that she suffered from extreme anxiety at having to recall the traumatic events of the assault.
“I know what happened to my body.”
— Victim testonomy
She was able to recall details of what she saw in Lapointe’s bedroom and the fact that he had a knife collection.
And she was clear, Bellows said, that she was assaulted.
“I know what happened to my body,” the victim said in her testimony.
She had tried to block out what had happened but suffered a breakdown when she saw Lapointe more than a year later and her memories came flooding back.
That’s when she went to the police.
Mother’s testimony was ‘tailored’
In contrast, Bellows said she had issues with Lapointe’s version of events. For example, when he was arrested, he immediately said it had to be the victim making the accusation because he had been warned she was the type of person who would make a false claim about sexual assault.
While Lapointe claimed the victim had never been in his bedroom, he couldn’t explain why she could accurately describe it in her testimony.
And while his mother’s evidence corroborated Lapointe’s evidence, Bellows said it seemed “tailored” to support her son’s version of events.
For example, his mother testified that she had not left the apartment all of June because of COVID-19, and that the victim had never been there.
But Lapointe himself had testified that the victim had been in the apartment, just that she had never been in his bedroom.
Bellows ruled that Lapointe was guilty of sexual assault, sexual interference and making threats.
A pre-sentencing report has been ordered and the sides will return to court June 27.
