Jury hears trial of Kamloops-area man accused of sexually assaulting young family friend

Photo: Castanet

A Kamloops-area man is standing trial this week in front of a BC Supreme Court jury accused of sexually assaulting a young family friend over a period of years.

The 28-year-old accused cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban put in place to protect the identity of the complainant. He is standing trial on charges of sexual assault, sexual interference of a person under 16 and invitation to sexual touching of a person under 16.

Castanet Kamloops is not naming the rural Kamloops-area community in which the offences are alleged to have taken place because doing so could violate the ban.

The man’s trial got underway on Monday morning at the Kamloops Law Courts.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2016 and 2019.

Crown prosecutor Laura Drake said the complainant is a 15-year-old girl. She was between the ages of nine and 12 when the offences are alleged to have taken place.

“What I anticipate she’ll tell you is that, for approximately two or two-and-a-half years, from when she was nine years old to when she was 12 years old, [the accused] touched her in some sexual manner almost every time that she saw him,” she said in her opening statement.

Drake said the accused’s ex-wife will also testify against him.

The trial is scheduled to run into next week.