REGINA – The second day of a trial into an alleged sexual assault of a minor began with the accused taking the stand.
The Crown had called all three of their witnesses yesterday, effectively closing their case with their testimony. This morning saw defence counsel call their only witness in Regina Court of King’s Bench.
Chad Kwiatkowski, 52, is charged with one count sexual assault and another count touching for a sexual purpose on a person under the age of 16. Court heard the incidents were alleged to have occurred between 2016 and 2017 during times Kwiatkowski was the only adult in the home, according to evidence from the victim.
Defence lawyer Bruce Campbell began his line of questioning with how his client and the victim’s mother met, the daily routine in the home after he moved in and the relationship he had with the victim at that time.
“I had no issues,” Kwiatkowski said. “It was her mom’s house, it was [victim’s name] and her attitude and her way of living. I didn’t want to interfere with it.”
He added that the two “kinda hit it off, kinda didn’t hit it off,” that the victim often had an attitude towards him - something Kwiatkowski said he and the victim’s mother discussed during their evening walks.
When Crown prosecutor Aly Sparks inquired about the relationship, Kwiatkowski provided a similar answer.
“There was no issues … she was testing the waters,” he replied.
When pressed further that he perhaps did not like the victim, Kwiatkowski denied the sentiment, calling her “a good kid.”
Referencing a police statement, Sparks asked if he referred to her as “arrogant,” or a “brat.”
“Yeah, I did,” Kwiatkowski admitted. “I felt that she was an arrogant kid. A little brat, yeah. Kids are all brats sometimes.”
He expanded that it was the attitude she presented that Kwiatkowski was not fond of, but that he did care for the child.
“I accepted that attitude, it didn’t bother me,” he said.
Both Campbell and Sparks asked Kwiatkowski point blank whether or not he did the acts heard in Court by other witnesses. To each question, he answered emphatically “no, I did not.”
The afternoon saw arguments presented by Crown and defence, with Campbell again questioning the timeline of events. Some testimony suggested Kwiatkowski and the mother met during the summer of 2016, and that he moved in a “a few months later.” Court heard at some points that Kwiatkowski moved in during the late fall of 2016, yet other witnesses were sure he moved in after Christmas; in the early days of 2017.
“It seems to me the evidence is clear they lived together for eight months-ish,” Campbell said.
“This is a case where all three witnesses struggled with timelines,” Sparks noted in her argument, adding that the Court should not be bogged down by the month and day Kwiatkowski moved in and out, but rather if the allegations occurred or not.
Sparks also referenced the continued online messages Kwiatkowski sent to the victim, even up to three years after the relationship between him and her mother ended.
“Her recollection of what occurred is what occurred,” Sparks stated.
In addressing the victim’s evidence regarding an inconsistent timeline, Sparks also highlighted an obvious point.
“In the Crown’s view, this Court must recognize [she] is a young, 18-year-old woman talking about a traumatic event that occurred when she was 11 and 12 years old,” she said.
Justice Graeme Mitchell is scheduled to hand down his decision in this matter on Sept. 15.
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