John and Sheri Collyer enter Bridgewater court September 11, 2019
The trial of the former Bridgewater Police Chief wrapped up today.
John Collyer faces a count each of sexual assault and sexual exploitation of an underage girl.
Attorneys for the Crown and defence presented their closing arguments in the morning.
Defence Attorney David Bright stated in his closing arguments, it’s up to the Crown to prove Collyer committed the offences not for Collyer to prove he did not.
With the exception of the alleged assault, both sides agreed on the events that took place.
Collyer and the then 16-year-old spent the afternoon together before the alleged sexual assault took place while they were driving.
Crown Attorney Roland Levesque says the inappropriate Facebook messages sent by Collyer to the girl in which he says to her, “You are hot”, show his state of mind.
Levesque argued Collyer moved from being a father figure for the girl to showing sexual interest in her.
However, Bright countered that making comments and acting on them are two different things.
Bright went on to indicate the girl didn’t show any change in her demeanour towards Collyer in the weeks following the alleged assault.
Levesque pointed out there is no typical way for a sex assault victim to react and previous courts have decided that argument is improper reasoning and is no longer allowed to be used when assessing the credibility of a witness.
The case has come down to a typical he said – she said situation.
It will be up to Justice Mona Lynch to decide whose testimony was more compelling, John Collyer’s or the complainant’s.
Court is now adjourned until October 24 when Justice Lynch will render her decision.
Reported by: Ed Halverson
Twitter: @edwardhalverson
E-mail: halverson.ed@radioabl.ca
