Alleged victim takes the stand in sexual assault trial for former Vancouver Canuck

Warning: This story contains a description of an alleged sexual assault.

The sexual assault trial of former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen got underway at B.C. Supreme Court in downtown Vancouver on Monday.

The Crown’s sole witness, the now-23-year-old woman who alleges Virtanen raped her in his hotel room in September 2017, took the stand to describe what she says happened that night.

The woman, whose identity is protected by the courts, was referred to by her initials M.S. She testified she was 18 years old and didn’t know who Virtanen was when she met him at a bar at the Calgary Stampede in July 2017.

She said the two kissed and exchanged contact information, and when she travelled to Vancouver from her home in the Interior several months later to visit friends, she and Virtanen arranged to meet up.

The Crown asked the young woman, “Did you have any thought that something of a sexual nature would happen?”

“No,” M.S. replied.

“Did you want to have a sexual encounter with Mr. Virtanen?” the Crown asked.

M.S. again replied, “No.”

She testified Virtanen picked her up from her friend’s house and she was uneasy when he drove straight to the Westin Bayshore hotel in downtown Vancouver, because he had told her he lived in Abbotsford.

The Crown asked, “How did you feel when you saw you were at the hotel?”

”I had this sinking feeling in my stomach,” M.S. replied.

Asked why, she told the court: “Because it was the exact situation I didn’t want to be put in.”

She says shortly after the two entered the hotel room, Virtanen began kissing and touching her. She testified she “shrugged him off” several times, but he persisted and tried to remove her shirt.

“I put my hands over my chest and that was the first time I told him I didn’t want to have sex with him,” M.S. testified. She said Virtanen told her they didn’t have to have sex, but he continued his advances, eventually attempting to take off her pants.

M.S. testified, “As he was pulling my pants, I grabbed the top of them to stop them from coming down further. At that point, I hopped up and said maybe I should leave.”

She said Virtanen again assured her they didn’t need to have sex, so she stayed. But she testified he got more forceful and climbed on top of her, taking off his own clothes. M.S. told the court she made it clear she didn’t consent, testifying “I was saying, ‘No, no, I’ve said no.’”

M.S. became emotional as she described how Virtanen allegedly ignored her pleas and penetrated her vaginally. She testified she stared at the ceiling until it was over, and afterwards went to the bathroom to cry.

Virtanen denies he assaulted M.S. and has pleaded not guilty.

M.S. said she spent the night in the hotel room with Virtanen because she was unfamiliar with Vancouver and relied on him for a drive back to her friend’s home. The next morning, she said Virtanen told her he couldn’t drive her home because he had to get to Canucks practice, so he gave her money for a cab.

M.S. said she felt “violated, gross, confused, and distraught” about what had transpired in the hotel room, but she didn’t tell anyone for about a year.

Eventually she posted anonymously on an Instagram page for sexual assault survivors, and told her story to a reporter. She then contacted police and the single charge of sexual assault was laid.

Virtanen was placed on leave from the Canucks when the allegations first came to light, and was eventually let go.

The defence will begin cross-examining M.S. on Tuesday. Virtanen’s lawyers say they have not yet decided if their client will take the stand.