By Taylor MacPherson

Former Nipawin Hawks star testifies at his sexual assault trial

Apr 12, 2017 | 3:00 PM

UPDATE: After just 35 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict.

Garrett Dunlop was found to be not guilty of sexual assault or sexual interference.

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A former SJHL star said he kissed an underage girl, but believed she was older because she ‘smoked and drank.’ Garrett Dunlop, 21, of Nanaimo B.C., is charged with sexual assault and sexual interference after two alleged sexual encounters with a girl under age 16. His trial has been running since Monday in Melfort.

This morning Dunlop took the stand and testified he never asked the complainant’s age directly and didn’t raise the topic because she shared photos of herself smoking and drinking through the social media application Snapchat. “I just assumed she was high school age,” Dunlop said. He added he has never known people under the age of 16 to drink or smoke cigarettes. Dunlop said he only met the complainant once for roughly half an hour. After picking her up, he said they drove around briefly before she asked him, ‘Do you want to kiss me now?’  He said the two of them moved to the backseat of his Ford SUV and shared a kiss. He said she revealed how young she was afterwards and he broke off the encounter because he thought about his own sister, who was of similar age. “Would I want some older guy doing this to my sister?” Dunlop said. “Obviously the answer’s no.”

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Unlike the complainant who said the two had sex, Dunlop was adamant they never progressed beyond kissing. Dunlop said he never met the complainant again after their first encounter and stopped replying to her messages over social media. He said he didn’t give the incident much more thought until RCMP arrested him at the Nipawin Arena seven months later. The former Nipawin Hawks centre said if he had known her age from the outset, he never would have met her at all.

Dunlop’s defence lawyer Mike Owens questioned the length of the investigation when examining Cst. Travis Adema, the lead investigator on the case. After an arrest warrant was issued for Dunlop, Adema said he discovered Dunlop was home in B.C. and, beyond expanding the warrant area, no further action was taken to secure Dunlop’s arrest until the start of the following hockey season. “Nothing was done during those five months,” Adema said. Adema also noted there was no physical evidence tying Dunlop to the allegations against him and the arrest warrant was issued purely based on statements from the complainant and her family.

Closing arguments in the trial are set to begin Wednesday afternoon.  The jury is expected to begin deliberations tomorrow.

taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @tmacphersonnews