A 22-year-old Charlottetown man testified in court Friday that he had consensual sex with a woman who alleges sexual assault.
Ugochukwu Godwill Egwuekwe said he lied to police in claiming he never had sex with the alleged victim and lied when he said that the woman had never been in his room.
He told the court he lied to police because he was advised by a lawyer not to talk about what happened in his room with the complainant.
Egwuekwe, who moved to P.E.I. from Nigeria in 2016, testified he had never been arrested before and he was afraid.
“I haven’t had a police issue in my life before,’’ he said.
The complainant testified earlier this week that Egwuekwe took off her clothes and forced himself on her in his bedroom on June 28 despite her repeated protestations.
RELATED: Teen struggles to tell her story to P.E.I. court about alleged rape
RELATED: P.E.I. court hears DNA matched man charged with sexually assaulting teen
Egwuekwe gave a far different version of events in court Friday.
He said the woman, who was 17 at the time, not only consented to having sexual intercourse, but initiated the sex as well.
Egwuekwe testified the pair were smoking marijuana in his room.
He said as they sat together on his bed, the complainant started touching his hair and telling him they should kiss.
They began kissing and the woman took Egwuekwe’s hands and placed them on her breasts, he continued in his testimony.
He told the court that the pair each removed their own clothes – a stark contrast to the woman’s claim that Egwuekwe forcibly removed her clothes and pinned her on the bed – and proceeded to have sex for 20 to 30 minutes.
He told the court he was baffled when the woman later sent him a text accusing him of doing something she didn’t want to do. A friend of the complainant also accused him of rape.
He told the court that despite lying to the police following his arrest, his testimony in court Friday was the truth.
Crown attorney Lisa Goulden spent a lengthy time cross examining Egwuekwe, spending most of her time focusing on bringing the accused’s credibility into question.
She highlighted numerous lies by the accused not only to police but to others around the time of the alleged sexual assault.
“We have established that you lie about a lot of things,’’ said Goulden.
“So, you lie when you try to avoid getting in trouble for the things you do.’’
There is a publication ban prohibiting any information being printed that may identify the alleged victim.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
