Guilty verdict for one of two men in Saskatoon sexual assault trial

Watch above: verdict handed down in sexual assault trial

SASKATOON – One of two men accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Saskatoon has been found guilty.

Tried by judge alone, a verdict was delivered in the Farouk Sadiq and Butchang Nkem sexual assault trial.

Nkem was found guilty of the sexual assault at a University of Saskatchewan residence on New Year’s Day 2012.

“I do not accept much of Nkem’s testimony and I’m not about to accept his testimony as accountable,” said Judge Richard Danyliuk in delivering the guilty verdict, who added it was a disturbing and difficult case.

The victim, who was 20 at the time, sat in the front row to hear Danyliuk deliver his 50 page verdict.

The verdict comes more than three months since the trial began and nearly two months since closing arguments were made.

His co-accused, Farouk Sadiq, was found not guilty on the grounds he had the honest but mistaken belief that the complainant consented to sex with him.

Outside the courthouse Sadiq declined to comment but said he was happy with the outcome.

“It’s certainly a very welcome result for my client, he has maintained his innocence throughout but it certainly has been an ordeal for him and he’s certainly looking to putting this whole matter behind him,” said Mark Vanstone.

In what was to be a night of celebration, the victim alleges was a night of terror and rape both vaginally and anally.

During the trial, she claimed she was drugged that evening which led to significant memory gaps.

“The Crown believed it had a reasonable likelihood of conviction on both accused so we brought the matter before the court, we called all of the evidence that was available to us and we have to review the decision.” explained Senior Crown Prosecutor Buffy Rodgers.

An appeal of the decision is not out of the question.

“It was a very sad experience for this victim and it’s sad all around, it’s sad for her family. It obviously is going to be difficult for the accused family as well so there’s no victory in cases like this,” said Rodgers.

During the trial, Nkem testified the woman made sexual advances towards him when he went to retrieve a camera from the bedroom Sadiq had just left.

The judge called Nkem’s version “an adolescent fantasy.”

“It did seem a little bit far-fetched his version of why he went back into the bedroom and obviously the court did not believe a word of what he said about that,” added Rodgers.

Rodgers said very little about her client’s reaction to the verdict other than to say she was still processing it.

“It’s had a tremendous impact on her life, she is a very brave, young woman who came forward under some touch circumstances and I commend her for that.”

Sentencing for Butchang Nkem has been scheduled for Oct. 31.

The Crown said it would likely seek a penitentiary sentence.