Photo: Nicholas Johansen

Reader advisory: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual assault

“I told them to let me go and asked them why they were doing what they were doing to me. And they just laughed.”

A young woman testified in Kelowna court Wednesday, alleging four young men sexually assaulted her in a West Kelowna basement bedroom following a night of drinking in June 2018.

The trial for brothers Christian and David Dupas, along with Kole Comin and Trevor Pereverzoff, began last week. The men ranged in age between 21-23 when the alleged incident occurred. The identity of the victim, referred to as Y.W., is protected under a publication ban.

Y.W. took the stand for the first time Wednesday to testify about the night in question. She had met one of the accused, Comin, on a dating app, and attended a house party with him in June 2018. After drinking at the West Kelowna home, the group attended BNA Brewing, before returning to the home in the early morning hours. She described her intoxication level upon returning to the home as a "seven out of 10"

Y.W. testified she “blacked out” while sitting on a bed in the West Kelowna home, watching a few people play video games. She described blacking out as not being “aware of what was happening" and said " I just don't remember anything after that.”

She testified she then woke up in the same bed, without clothes on, surrounded by the four accused.

“What is the next thing you remember happening after you woke up in the bed with these four men around you?” asked Crown prosecutor Patricia O'Neil.

“I was being sexually assaulted ... they were having sex with me without my consent,” Y.W. replied.

She then testified the four accused took turns raping her two at a time, “manhandling” her, calling her names like “slut” and “whore,” while laughing at her.

“I just wanted them to stop, and told them to let me go,” Y.W. said. “I asked them five or six times if they would let me go and [that] I wouldn't say anything.”

She repeatedly told O'Neil that she never consented to any sexual activity with any of the four men.

Later that day, Y.W. reported the alleged assault to police and she was taken to Kelowna General Hospital, where a sexual assault examiner collected evidence.

Y.W. gave a statement to RCMP Const. Lyndsey Schwindt that same day, who testified at the trial last week. The officer told the court her and Y.W. referred to the four men as Hockey Player 1, 2, 3, and 4 during that first interview, as Y.W. didn't know the names of all four of them at that time.

Pereverzoff played for the Prince George Spruce Kings for part of the 2014-2015 season and was last listed on the roster of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas in 2019. Comin played one game with the Merritt Centennials in 2015 and finished his junior hockey career in Alberta in 2020.

Evidence at the trial includes a video Y.W. took at the party, which was used to identify some of the suspects, along with surveillance footage from BNA and an audio recording taken from a taxi that Y.W. used following the alleged attack.

All four men are charged with sexual assault and unlawful confinement. They all pleaded not guilty at the beginning of trial. The defence's cross-examination of Y.W. is expected to begin Thursday. It's not clear if any of the accused are planning to testify in their own defence.

The trial is scheduled to continue through to the end of the month.