Defence accuses key witness of lying
Online contact with Jonathan Dort, 42, of Geary, after he allegedly sexually assaulted 15-year-old girl was coping mechanism, complainant testifies during cross-examination
Warning: This article includes graphic descriptions of sexual assault.
A woman who accused a Geary man of raping her three years ago acknowledged on cross-examination that they exchanged nude pics and had ongoing contact through social media.
But the girl testified she didn’t specifically recall the posts but also asserted her communications with the defendant after he sexually assaulted her was a facade she needed to survive the trauma.
Jonathan Dort, 42, of Maxwell Road in Geary, faces charges of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and touching her for a sexual purpose, alleging events in the Fredericton Junction area in January 2021.
His trial began in April 2023 in Fredericton provincial court, and the complainant - whose identity is protected by a court-ordered publication ban - testified she was 15 when Dort gave her a ride home Jan. 7, 2021, but along the way, he pulled his vehicle over on the side of the road.
Dort forced himself on her, the witness said, noting he touched her and then got on top of her, and that’s when he penetrated her vaginally.