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On the evening of Aug. 23, 2016, two women woke up from a nap in the living room of their Kelowna home to find a stranger in their makeshift bed, touching their legs and genitals.
When they confronted the man, he simply smiled back at them from under the covers and told them he was there with a friend, before leaving the house and running down the street.
On Friday afternoon, a day after they began deliberations, a 12-person jury found the man accused of the sexual assaults, Shea Gardecki, not guilty.
The verdict came after eight days of trial, where the crown brought 10 witnesses to testify, including the two victims, while the defence submitted no evidence.
While Gardecki’s defence argued during closing submissions that inconsistencies in the victims’ and witnesses’ recollection of the events on the day the incident took place should raise doubts about Gardecki’s guilt, Crown prosecutor Patricia O’Neil reminded the jury that the events took place a year and a half ago, which would explain the inconsistencies.
The jury was warned extensively by defence about the unreliability of witness identification. On Friday, the jury asked for clarification during their deliberations about the standard of proof required for a criminal conviction.
Gardecki remained active on the online dating site Plenty of Fish while he awaited trial, and two women reported negative experiences with him after meeting him through the site.
Gardecki, and the clothes he was wearing at the time of his arrest, matched the victims’ and witnesses’ description of the attacker.
Gardecki was at a nearby friend's house on the evening in question, but had left to get more beer around the time the assault took place.
When Gardecki returned to his friend’s house without beer, Gardecki had no explanation for where he had been.
In a statement he gave to police following his arrest, Gardecki said he didn’t remember what had happened, but that “girls can say anything they want ... they're like that you know, they freak out about anything.”
