Warning: This article contains graphic content. Discretion is advised.
The sexual assault trial of a former Saint Mary’s University groundskeeper accused of sexually assaulting a Dalhousie University student in December 2014 began on Tuesday.
It began with the complainant testifying repeatedly and forcefully that Matthew Albert Percy did not use a condom during sex before he forcefully had non-consensual anal sex with her at a Dalhousie residence building on Dec. 6, 2014.
The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, cried on the stand as she shared her story.
She testified how the assault had left her with bite marks on her neck and painful bruises on her rear that left her unable to sit down for days.
“Consent was never given. I never said it was OK,” she responded when asked by the Crown about her injuries.
The trial at Nova Scotia Supreme Court is in front of a judge alone.
The complainant said that she was 19 when she met Percy after partying at Cheers, a bar that existed at the time in The Dome, a multilevel nightclub in downtown Halifax.
She said that she was looking to say goodbye to her friend and leaving the bar when two men began chatting to her as they smoked outside.
One of the men, who was later confirmed to be Percy, invited her to get poutine at a nearby take-out restaurant.
On the way, the pair stopped to have a drink at the Toothy Moose, another bar on Argyle Street.
Her recollection of how she got home was hazy but she said she was assaulted multiple times at her Dalhousie residence.
She told the court that non-consensual sex occurred multiple times throughout the evening.
The first incident occurred on her bed.
The complainant said she had not wanted anything intimate to happen but that when Percy initiated sex she had thought it was best to be safe.
Percy did not end up using a condom.
The complainant said she was assaulted once again by Percy when they were both in the washroom.
She said she was looking in the mirror when he came up behind her and grabbed her hair so she could not move.
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He then forcefully penetrated her anus despite multiple protests and cries of pain, she said.
As he allegedly assaulted her, the complainant testified that Percy reportedly smacked her rear and bit her neck and back.
READ MORE: Sentencing hearing postponed for former SMU groundskeeper convicted of sexual assault
After he was finished they took a shower where he once again initiated sex.
“From the beginning, I didn’t want to, even on the bed, I didn’t want any of it to happen,” she testified.
When they returned to the room, the complainant said Percy also had her perform oral sex on him, forcing her head down and choking her.
When the assault ended, the then-19-year-old curled up against a cold cement wall alongside her bed. She testified that she wanted to be as far away from Percy as possible and that the wall was the only comfort.
Percy sat quietly throughout the day taking notes at the defence table.
The former Saint Mary’s University groundskeeper was previously convicted of sexually assaulting a student at that school in September 2017.
The complainant will be cross-examined when court resumes on Wednesday.
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