[News] 'Afraid' and 'horrified': Complainant testifies in Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin's sexual assault trial

[FazzNoth]

A complainant at the centre of a high-profile criminal case testified in a Gatineau, Que. court Monday that she was "horrified" more than three decades ago to wake up to Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin sexually assaulting her.

The military commander pleaded not guilty to the alleged incident said to have taken place sometime between Jan.1 and April 30, 1988 when they were both students at Royal Military College Saint-Jean in Quebec. Today is the first time the details of the allegations have been made public.

 

Fortin was well-known during the pandemic for his role as the head of Canada's vaccine rollout. He was removed from the job in 2021 amid a military police investigation that later led to the sexual assault charge. 

He's one of a series of current and former senior Canadian military leaders during the military's sexual misconduct crisis who have been investigated, criminally charged or forced into retirement since 2021 from some of the most prestigious posts in the defence establishment.

 

The complainant said she woke up sometime after midnight to Fortin leaning over her bed in the barracks and holding her hand "around his penis" and using it to masturbate.

"I'm taken aback," said the woman about how she felt in the moment of that alleged sexual assault. "I'm afraid. I'm scared."

"I freeze for a second. I don't move except for the motion of what he's doing and I just hold my breath and I slightly open one eye."

 

The woman said she recognized Fortin immediately because he was her acquaintance. He was wearing casual clothing and had his pants down, she said.

The woman testified that she tried to pull her hand away to signal she was awake. She hoped Fortin would "panic and leave," she said. But Fortin "ignored" her at first and didn't stop right away, the woman said. 

"He just grabs my hand tighter and holds it there," she said. "He keeps doing what he's doing."

The complainant said Fortin's other hand was groping her chest "hard."

"At that point is where I'm pushing him and saying 'get off me, get away' ... I'm at such shock with what's going on, my focus was getting him away from me."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6584214