*Warning: this story contains elements that some may find triggering.
*Editor's note: A publication ban covers any information that might identify the victims in this case, including many details of the incidents themselves.
“I didn’t want to and I didn’t consent.”
Those are the words of a woman testifying Tuesday during the trial of Palmerston man Michael Hurst in Guelph.
Monday, Hurst pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault independently involving two women he had frequent contact with.
The alleged incidents – described in court as inappropriate touching of the women’s buttocks and breasts, as well as oral sex and intercourse – are said to have happened between 2017 and 2020, largely in Wellington North.
Much of the evidence presented to the court is covered by a publication ban aimed at protecting the identities of the complainants.
“When I said ‘no,’ he didn’t really listen,” the woman said in reference to one incident.
“You know you like it,” she recalled him saying.
“I knew if I didn’t do it, my life would be hell,” she told the court, explaining she feared the influence Hurst had on others, so she “numbed” herself to the situation. “I complied but I didn’t want to.”
The woman said she’d felt pressured on at least four earlier occasions to perform oral sex on Hurst.
He’s also accused of having touched the woman’s breast during a separate incident.
At no time did she consent to Hurst’s sexual advances, the woman told the court.
Defence attorney Mary Murphy suggested the woman had a “chit chatty” relationship with Hurst and that she had either reciprocated or initiated contact with him regularly.
On more than one occasion, Murphy said, the complainant grabbed Hurst’s penis, though the woman doesn’t remember doing that.
One night, the woman said she went out with a group, including Hurst, where alcohol was consumed.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable so I wanted to leave,” she said, acknowledging she was drunk by that point in the evening. “I needed to go to bed.”
She explained another man walked her to her hotel room after the night out, where she got into her pyjamas and went to bed alone.
When she woke in the morning, she was naked and Hurst was naked beside her, suggesting he wanted oral sex. She complied.
“I was completely overwhelmed,” she continued. “I couldn’t believe this was happening.”
The woman explained she had both keys to her room when she went to bed and doesn’t know how Hurst got inside.
Murphy pointed out the woman told police Hurst had “grabbed” her and “put” her to her knees, followed by oral sex.
Murphy further suggested prior to that, the two awoke naked in bed and had a “giggly” and “chit chatty” conversation, along with mutual sexual touching.
The woman denied those claims.
“Not once did I say I wanted to,” she insisted.
The complainant explained she hadn’t reported the incidents to police at the time because she feared others would treat her differently, in addition to an assumed threat of repercussions.
At Murphy’s prompting, the woman acknowledged the repercussions she feared didn’t materialize for another alleged victim who testified Monday to unwanted sexual touching from Hurst.
The trial is slated to continue Wednesday, when the defence is expected to present its case.
