Scout leader told boy he would get mystical powers

VICTORIA – A Victoria Scout leader told a young boy that sexual attacks would give the child mystical powers, a Victoria courtroom heard Tuesday.

John Viszlai also created a contraption of ropes, pulleys and a broom handle – dubbed the "Judas chair" – to abuse the Scout between December 1991 and December 1994, Crown prosecutor Tim Stokes told B.C. Supreme Court.

The 53-year-old is charged with confining, sexually assaulting and touching a young boy for a sexual purpose, directly or indirectly with an object.

He is also charged with sexually assaulting and touching for a sexual purpose a second Scout between January 1988 and December 1992.

Viszlai, who was a Scout leader from 1973 until 2001, pleaded not guilty to the five charges on Tuesday.

The two victims, now 30 and 35 years old, are expected to testify at the trial of their former Scout leader, Stokes told the jury.

"He was an important person in their childhood," said Stokes.

Both boys, who were preteens and teens at the time of the attacks, visited Viszlai’s home, worked in the yard and became friends with him, he added.

"But you will also hear there was a darker side to the relationship between Mr. Viszlai and the two children."

The first victim, whose name is protected by a court order, is expected to testify that Viszlai encouraged him to put an object in his rectum.

He accomplished this through jokes, promising favours, letting the young boy read Playboy magazine and persuading him that he would get mystical powers, said Stokes.

The first victim will tell the court that the first incident involved a stepladder and a vertical broom handle, the lawyer said.

During the second attack, he was blindfolded, tied up with a rope and placed over the Judas chair contraption, said Stokes.

The second victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban, is expected to tell the court about an attack at Viszlai’s home where the Scout leader helped the young boy insert an object in his rectum, said Stokes.

The jury will also hear a police interview where Viszlai tells officers about making the boy insert things into his anus, said the prosecutor.

The trial is expected to last nine days. The Crown’s case is expected to finish Monday.