A second man took the stand on Tuesday to tell the story of how his former middle school gym teacher, Neil Joynt, allegedly sexually assaulted him on a camping trip over 40 years ago.
“I put an awful lot of faith in this man as a person who would look after me, be responsible for me, look after my wellness,” the complainant told the court on Tuesday.
The man, who cannot be identified due to a publication ban, seemed slightly shaken taking the stand for the second time in three years to testify against 78-year-old Joynt, who was his physical education teacher at Calvin Park Public School in the 1970s. Joynt had a long career in teaching in Kingston, and also served as an OHL billet for decades.
In October 2016, Joynt was convicted of two counts of indecent assault against two boys that he taught and was sentenced to eight months in jail. He was found not guilty of assaulting a third boy.
Joynt never served jail time since his appeal was filed on the day of sentencing. A retrial was granted after the appeal found that two pieces of information were not delivered to the jury, and the first day of Joynt’s retrial began on Monday in Napanee.
On Monday, the court heard testimony from a man via video conferencing, despite the system malfunctioning for several hours. Due to problems with that system on Tuesday, the court decided to hear from the second complainant, who was there in person.
According to the second witness, just a few weeks after his father — a Second World War veteran with PTSD and alcoholism — left him, his mother and his three siblings, it was decided that Joynt would take the then-14-year-old student on a camping trip with Joynt’s father and another older man over the July 1 long weekend.
The complainant described how, on that trip, Joynt allegedly “lured” him in by offering him cigarettes, beer and liquor, despite his young age. The complainant also said Joynt told his mother that he was taking the young teen to Presqu’ile Provincial Park, but instead took him north to a campground past Smiths Falls.
After an evening of drinking, the complainant says he and Joynt shared a tent at night. In that tent, the complainant claims Joynt suggested the two zip their sleeping bags together to stay warm.
In the morning, the witness said he woke up to Joynt on top of him, sexually assaulting him.
“It took anywhere from five to 15 minutes, but time kind of stood still. I was horrified,” the complainant told the court.
He says he was too afraid to leave and said he pretended to be asleep while Joynt continued to assault him while also pleasuring himself.
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After the alleged assault was over, the witness says he left the tent and wandered around in the woods for some time, realizing that he had no way of getting home.
At one point, the complainant described coming up to a cliff, and looking over the edge.
“I thought about jumping off and killing myself, because I didn’t understand what I had done to make this man do this to me,” the complainant told the court.
He then described spending the rest of the day trying to keep to himself, and Joynt making no mention of the morning’s incident.
The complainant says he slept in the tent a second night with Joynt, but this time refused to have the sleeping bags attached. The witness says Joynt agreed and left him alone.
According to the witness’ testimony, Joynt then drove the boy home and suggested he and his younger brother come over soon to eat the fish they caught on the camping trip.
The Crown’s questions ended there, and the court adjourned. Cross-examination of both witnesses will resume on Wednesday in Napanee’s Ontario Court of Justice.
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