SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — She was believed. He was not.
Justice Terri MacPherson has found Matthew Leo Dunbar, 34, guilty of sexual assault.
The Alma man was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Prince County home in 2018.
The victim and Dunbar were the only adults in the home at the time, though there were two children sleeping in another part of the house.
Both the accused and the victim testified during the trial, which took place before a Supreme Court judge alone last week.
Dunbar said the sex had been consensual and that the victim initiated it.
The victim testified that Dunbar had lured her into a laundry room, overpowered and raped her.
As she gave her decision on the case Friday morning MacPherson said she believed beyond a reasonable doubt that the evidence corroborated the victim’s testimony. Dunbar’s version of events, she concluded, contained a number of inconsistencies.
“In all the circumstances present in this case, her evidence is reliable. I accept without hesitation the complainant’s evidence regarding what happened in the lead up to and ultimately within the laundry room that night,” said MacPherson.
Reputation in the community
Some of the main evidence that backed up that statement involved a series of text messages sent by the victim on the night of the assault.
On that day, Dunbar was hanging out at a Prince County residence where the victim was also present.
The victim testified that she was nervous being alone in the house with Dunbar as he had a reputation in the community for being inappropriate with women. She kept a text chat going with a friend throughout the evening.
The last message was a call for help.
Dunbar will now face a sentencing hearing on Nov. 29 at 9:30 a.m.
There is a publication ban in place in this case preventing any information from being shared which could identify the victim in any way.
