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Stepdaughter testifies Penticton dad groped her

Man on trial charged with sex assault for grabbing breasts of 18-year-old girls, then undressing stepdaughter

A Penticton man is being accused of two counts of sexual assault on his stepdaughter and her friend.

The girls, who were 18 at the time of the alleged offences, said the sexual assaults took place in mid-to-late June of 2011 but they did not find the courage to tell authorities about it until almost two months later. The names of all parties involved are being withheld due to a publication ban.

Both girls said they had been at a friend’s party the evening of the alleged offence and got intoxicated playing a drinking game called beer pong. The stepdaughter said it was around 4 a.m. when she either called or texted her stepfather, who is divorced from her biological mother, asking for a ride to his house where the girls had been living for a month or two since moving to Penticton while looking for work.

The stepdaughter said once they got to the man’s apartment from the party, all three of them went into his bedroom, one of the places they could smoke inside the apartment. She then went to the kitchen to get a couple of beers that had been offered to them by her stepfather.

“I went back into the room and my dad had lifted her top up and put his mouth on her boob. He looked at me and laughed and said it was just a joke,” the stepdaughter said. “I said I don’t see how that is a joke, and he laughed and brushed it off.”

The stepdaughter said she handed out the beers and sat on the bed when the man leaned over trying to do the same thing to her. Breaking down while testifying, the girl wiped tears from her eyes before carrying on.

She testified that she had taken off her bra when she got home, and when her stepfather attempted to touch her, she pushed her arms down and told him no, but he grabbed her wrists and pushed her arms away. She said he continued pushing down her shirt and sucked on her nipple for about five seconds.

The court heard the girls then went to a bedroom to go to sleep and the stepdaughter was called back into the man’s bedroom. The girl said she was intoxicated and had wanted to go to bed but was having a “hard time” getting off the bed. The man told her he would help her out.

“He grabbed pajamas and said he would help. I said don’t look, and he made a comment that ‘I changed your diapers when you were young, it’s OK’,” said the stepdaughter, who added she was put into the man’s boxers and a tank top and the only piece of clothing of her’s left on was her underwear.

Both girls testified when they awoke it was awkward around the man and they both felt sick.

“He said good thing we aren’t biologically related and we shouldn’t tell anybody,” the stepdaughter said.

While the stepdaughter told the court she was intoxicated that night, she clearly remembers the incident. Her friend admitted she also was very intoxicated and she cannot recall some of the events that happened that evening but remembered what the man did to her. Defence council Jim Pennington suggested the incident took place at the party with another person and perhaps they are not recalling the events clearly.

Crown counsel Susan Greba rested her case on Wednesday but Pennington said he needed time to consider his position and if he would be bringing any evidence. A court date of Aug. 29 has been set to schedule when the trial will resume.