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Toronto man accused of sexually assaulting York University grad student found guilty

Mandi Gray poses for a portrait in Toronto on Friday, July 15, 2016.
Mandi Gray poses for a portrait in Toronto on Friday, July 15, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

TORONTO — A Toronto man accused of sexually assaulting a fellow York University graduate student has been found guilty.

Mustafa Ururyar was convicted of forcing Mandi Gray, a PhD student with whom he was having a casual relationship, to perform oral sex and engage in sexual intercourse in the early hours of Jan. 31, 2015.

Ururyar was accused of assaulting Gray, who waived the standard publication ban on the identity of complainants in sexual assault cases, after a night of drinking with friends at a pair of bars in downtown Toronto.

READ MORE: York U student taking school to Ontario Human Rights Tribunal

Gray testified that Ururyar had been verbally abusive to her that night, causing her to feel uncomfortable being in his company.

Ururyar pleaded not guilty, testifying that he and Gray had engaged in consensual sex that night in his bedroom.

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He testified that Gray had been sexually aggressive the entire night, groping him at the bars and initiating sex even after Ururyar tried to break up with her once they got home.

Justice Marvin Zuker said in his decision that he rejected Ururyar’s and called his narrative a total fabrication.

READ MORE: Activist launches new initiative to prevent sexual assaults in GTA

The justice spoke at length about the legal definitions of sexual assault and consent before reading the verdict.

Consent means agreeing to what a person does, when they do it and the way in which they do it, Zuker told the court.

“Behavioural stereotypes should not impact the way we (perceive) the complainant,” he added, saying relationships or texts between an accused and accuser, delays in reporting sexual assaults or the absence of physical resistance during an assault cannot be taken as evidence of consent.

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