BY KEITH LACEY
A police officer from Sault Ste. Marie has pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault following a party more than six years ago.
Const. Douglas Witty, 30, was charged in the fall of 2000 after two female complainants came forward with allegations they were sexually assaulted during the same house party in Sault Ste. Marie in late 1996 or early 1997.
Greater Sudbury Police were called in by Sault. Ste. Marie Police to conduct an investigation after charges were filed. Witty?s trial began Monday at the Sudbury courthouse and is expected to go to the seven-woman, five-man jury Thursday.
It?s alleged Witty twice tried to force sex on one woman, while the second woman testified she awoke to find Witty grabbing and fondling her.
Both woman have since moved to the United States. Justice John Poupore of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered a ban on publication of any evidence that could identify either complainant.
The first witness complained she awoke to find Witty grabbing her breasts.
?I was scared and startled at first because I had been asleep,? she said. ?I rolled over toward the back of the couch so he couldn?t touch me. He asked me to go to the bedroom and I said no.?
The second witness testified she awoke to find Witty lying on top of her trying forcefully to remove her jeans.
In other court news, a St. Charles man who broke into a seniors? facility was sentenced to four months in jail Monday.
That time will be served on top of the more than two months Yvan Larabie has spent in custody since being arrested just before Christmas.
Larabie, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of break and enter and then threatening to kill one man and then threatening a police officer who arrested him following an investigation.
A building used by seniors in the St. Charles area was broken into late last June. A second man from St. Charles, Kent Christensen, pleaded guilty to possessing stolen property and was sentenced to 60 days in jail. The total value of the items stolen was estimated at around $5,000.
