2019 12 05: “It’s the judges!” enabling rape and murder of women. No kidding. In Canada too.
Ottawa rapist Paul Batchelor found guilty again, though also acquitted in two other cases by Gary Dimmock, Sept 16, 2022, Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa rapist Paul Batchelor has been found guilty again, only this time across the river in Hull.
The disgraced insurance salesman was on trial for three separate rape cases, but was acquitted in two on Friday.
Batchelor, 37, met the women online while he was on bail awaiting two rape trials in Ottawa. In those cases, Batchelor was found guilty in April and sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
But the judge sentenced the rapist to time served after credit for pre-trial custody and doing pandemic time. In fact, the judge said in April, after all the credits, the rapist is actually owed more than 400 days.
Though Batchelor was sentenced to time served in April, he didn’t walk out of the courthouse, but was rather kept in jail awaiting the three rape cases on the Quebec side.
In all, including Friday’s verdicts, Batchelor has won seven acquittals in rape cases defended by legal specialist Oliver Abergel. This is his third conviction.
Batchelor remains in the Hull jail awaiting sentencing for his latest rape conviction. The judge on Friday also acquitted him on the two other cases.
The last time Batchelor won two rape acquittals on the same day was in 2019, and he walked out of the Ottawa courthouse with a big smile on his face. When he was found guilty in two other rapes in February 2022, there was no smile, and no walking away. It should be noted that Batchelor was also acquitted in three other rape cases that same day. None of the five women knew one another. (A sixth woman died before the case went to court.)
One woman in that case testified that she didn’t go to police back in 2014 because she didn’t think anyone would take her seriously.
She and four other women came forward after reading a 2019 Ottawa Citizen story on Batchelor.
He met all of the complainants on dating websites and all testified that his unwanted sexual advances came fast.
Batchelor has testified several times in his own defence and said it was all consensual.
Batchelor is originally from Warkworth, Ont., where he was raised on a family farm.
In his latest rape conviction on Friday, Batchelor assaulted the woman in her apartment after meeting her online.
Three more women file complaints to Ottawa police about accused rapist by Gary Dimmock, June 28, 2019, Ottawa Citizen
Paul Batchelor was acquitted in two cases of alleged sexual assault and faces trial on three more charges.
Days after insurance salesman Paul Batchelor was acquitted in two rape trials, three more Ottawa women have complained to police about the accused rapist.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Beaudoin acquitted Batchelor in two rape trials on June 21.
The judge accepted the accused rapist’s evidence that he had consent in both cases — a claim that differs wildly from the stories the women, who didn’t know one another, told at trial. They detailed horrific accounts of sexual assault at a Sandy Hill apartment, just a few minutes walk from the University of Ottawa, where Batchelor studied economics.
Batchelor, 34, met one woman at a pub and the other at a study room on campus in 2015.
The judge said the first woman’s testimony that she was too intimidated to say no was unreliable.
“Given her combative answers on the stand, her statements that she suddenly became this intimidated person, are not reliable,” Beaudoin told court.
The judge found that the woman gave “long speeches on consent.”
“I find that she gave long speeches on consent and gave contradictory answers to many questions. She was very assertive and it is difficult to accept her evidence, as contradictory as it was, that she felt she had no choice but to comply with his demand for oral sex.
“She identified no behaviour on his part that would have resulted in a change from the pleasant man she had met in the pub and in the drive in the car to this forceful, controlling man she described once they got into his apartment.
As for the alleged anal rape and “rough sex,” the judge said he found it difficult to accept the complainant’s “increasingly dramatic descriptions of the violent rape she claims to have ultimately endured when the photographic evidence and the hospital reports are reviewed.”
The woman testified that she screamed, “No!” loudly and pleaded for him to stop.
Beaudoin told court: “Curiously, no one seems to have heard her cries.”
The judge drew from the accused rapist’s testimony, noting that his apartment was in an older building where noise from his unit could be heard by neighbours who would have been around at that time of night.
The judge sided with Batchelor, saying: “It is difficult to accept that he would have continued assaulting (the woman) with his knowledge that her very loud screams could be heard.”
Batchelor was also acquitted in the second rape case, this one involving a University of Ottawa student. In that case, the judge said the most significant challenge to the woman’s credibility was that her timing was off by an hour or so.
Assistant Crown Attorney Sabrina Goldfarb described Batchelor as an opportunist who had been seeking his own gratification.
Defence lawyer Oliver Abergel told court it was simply a case where the sexual activity started to go further than what the complainant originally intended, and, when she realized Batchelor wanted to have intercourse, she decided against it and left his apartment.
In both cases, the judge said that Batchelor had consent for all of the sexual activity and noted that consent could be given through actions without speaking a single word. Both women testified they did not remain silent, but rather protested against the sex attacks they described. One woman likened it to torture.
Batchelor is scheduled to go on trial for three more rape cases next year. Those cases are unrelated to the three women who came forward this week after this newspaper reported on the acquittals.
They do not know one another.
Batchelor is on bail awaiting his next three trials.
Accused Ottawa rapist acquitted in two cases, woman’s testimony deemed ‘not reliable’ after ‘combative answers’ in court by Gary Dimmock, June 26, 2019, Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa insurance salesman Paul Batchelor, 36, walked out of the Elgin Street courthouse Friday, freshly acquitted in two rape cases after a judge doubted the horrific claims — saying one complainant’s testimony that she was too intimidated to say “no” wasn’t reliable because of her “combative answers on the stand.”
When it came to the second complainant — a University of Ottawa student — Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Beaudoin questioned her credibility because her timing of events was off by an hour or so.
Though Batchelor was acquitted in both cases, he’s scheduled to be back in court next year for three more sexual assault trials. (None of the women who reported him to police know one another.)
In the June 2015 case, the “combative” complainant gave a horrifying account at trial. She alleged Batchelor anally raped her and likened it to “torture.” She said she was left bleeding. She also detailed biting and slapping.
The woman met Batchelor online and agreed to meet him at a bar for a drink. They ended up back at his apartment and the woman said Batchelor demanded oral sex. She described him as forceful, but said she thought if she told them to stop, he would.
But then, she said, Batchelor began anally raping her. She said she screamed “no!” loudly and pleaded for him to stop.
Beaudoin questioned her story, telling court: “Curiously, no one seems to have heard her cries.”
The judge then drew from the accused rapist’s testimony, noting that his Sandy Hill apartment was in an older building where noise from his unit could be heard by neighbours who would have been around at that time of night.
The judge sided with Batchelor, saying: “It is difficult to accept that he would have continued assaulting (the woman) with his knowledge that her very loud screams could be heard.”
“More significantly,” the judge noted that “photographic evidence of (the woman’s) injuries is consistent with Batchelor’s testimony that he bit her once, after her request for rough sex.” A rape kit showed no obvious signs of injuries, court heard.
As for the alleged anal rape and “rough sex,” the judge said he found it difficult to accept the complainant’s “increasingly dramatic descriptions of the violent rape she claims to have ultimately endured when the photographic evidence and the hospital reports are reviewed.”
And the judge said he struggled to reconcile the woman’s behaviour on the stand with her testimony.
“The Crown admitted that (the woman) was a combative and argumentative witness. I find that she gave long speeches on consent and gave contradictory answers to many questions. She was very assertive and it is difficult to accept her evidence, as contradictory as it was, that she felt she had no choice but to comply with his demand for oral sex.
“She identified no behaviour on his part that would have resulted in a change from the pleasant man she had met in the pub and in the drive in the car to this forceful, controlling man she described once they got into his apartment.
“Even then, she kept repeating that she still felt that she could say ‘no’ or ‘stop’ and that she was okay with what was going on. Given her combative answers on the stand, her statements that she suddenly became this intimidated person, are not reliable.”
Batchelor’s defence lawyer, Oliver Abergel, also noted that his client took concrete, yet unsuccessful attempts to recover text messages to and from the complainant. Batchelor hired a data-recovery company that was unable to retrieve the key text messages.
The complainant told court that she texted Batchelor the next day asking him why he didn’t stop when she asked. No text messages were filed at trial by either side.
Assistant Crown Attorney Sabrina Goldfarb described Batchelor as an opportunist who was seeking his own gratification.
The judge, having found Batchelor credible, said he accepted that the woman consented to all of the sexual activity that night and that the insurance salesman was “continually and reasonably assessing her consent to those acts.”
Minutes after the judge found Batchelor not guilty, he acquitted him in the May 2015 case involving the University of Ottawa student.
Batchelor and the young woman met in a study room at the university and then went to his nearby apartment. She testified at trial that after knowing him for only 40 minutes, Batchelor started kissing her, saying it came out of nowhere. She kissed him back and then told him: “I didn’t come here for a hook up” and he said “l know.”
She said he then started biting and sucking on her right breast. She said it was painful and uncomfortable. She told court that she wanted things to slow down.
Then she says Batchelor sexually assaulted her. She says she was pushed down, didn’t have much control and was in fear and shock. She tried to push him off, but said he was “very strong” as he forced oral sex on her. She told court that she had to fight him off otherwise he was going to rape her. She said she called out, firmly saying “no.” She managed to kick him in the chest and then scrambled to get her clothes before running out of the apartment. She said he was laughing and heard him lock the door. She told court she was angry and afraid.
She went to an alleyway and called a friend who stayed with her that afternoon. Her friend and, later Batchelor, testified that the timing of events happened an hour or so earlier than the complainant’s account. The judge said her timing of events raised the most significant challenge to her credibility, with the complainant “insistent” about the time she met Batchelor at a study room on campus.
The young woman also told court that the entire incident at the apartment lasted no more than 10 minutes, but the judge found the accused rapist’s timeline of 40 minutes more realistic. The judge said it was hard to discern any injury in the photo filed in court but nothing turned on it as Batchelor said he gave the woman a hickey on her breast.
Batchelor said the sex was consensual.
Abergel, his defence lawyer, told court that it was simply a case where the sexual activity started to go further than what the complainant originally intended, and when she realized Batchelor wanted to have intercourse, she decided against it and left his apartment.
The prosecutor told court that Batchelor was “testing the waters,” which is against the law. Goldfarb said the complainant had no motive to lie and at no time did she consent to forced oral sex and touching.
The judge said both the complainant and the accused testified in a credible way, and while some of their testimony corroborated the beginning of the day in question, their version of how it ended was wildly different.
The judge then noted Batchelor’s detailed testimony on how the young woman, through her intimate conduct, actively expressed consent for the oral sex and touching.
“Consent can be given without a word being spoken,” the judge told court.
“Having found Mr. Batchelor to be credible and having accepted his evidence that (the woman) consented to the sexual acts on the bed, I must acquit him of all the charges,” Beaudoin said in his decision on Friday.
None of the sex assault allegations Batchelor faces next year has been tested in court.
The names of the women are protected by a publication ban.
A few of the comments:
Tori Dohn Capela 9 hours ago
The things this judge said made me absolutely sick, I had to read this article in two separate sittings because I was so angry. I know this guy is a piece of **** and exactly how the girls described — just wait, because there are going to be more girls testifying … my friend also had an encounter with him, and we have messages as proof of his character.
Although this judge seems to think no evidence is enough anyway!!!!
Also , I hope this judge loses his job and is not the one overlooking the next case!!!!!!! Furious.
Judy Bryson 1 day ago
The fact that there are 3 more sexual assault cases against this man coming up makes you realize why so many women won’t report. I’d like these ladies to know that I believe them.
Amanda Teske 1 day ago
“Consent can be given without a word being spoken,” the judge told court.
But apparently actually SAYING the word NO and physically struggling doesn’t revoke consent?
No. You should have to ASK and COMMUNICATE VERBALLY with anyone you are trying to form ANY kind of relationship with, even if it is just a ‘hook-up’. There is an immense difference between ‘rough sex’ and rape….that difference is COMMUNICATION and RESPECTING BOUNDARIES. He did not do this.
And as for a woman being intimidated in one situation, then angry about that same situation later seems like it would be entirely appropriate? This is absolutely ridiculous. I’ve been in situations where I have been assaulted and unable to do anything…then I have been so mad once released from the situations I have cracked a knuckle punching a tree.
It is ridiculous to think that someone’s behaviour should be the same in court as it was during a traumatizing event OR that the memory of a traumatizing event would be perfectly precise down to the minute.
I sincerely hope that the next round of trials brings justice to all the victims.
Marnie Wellar 1 day ago
This verdict is a TRAVESTY. Protest tomorrow noon at the courthouse on Elgin.
Patrick Moore 1 day ago
This judge should be removed from the bench immediately. 5 sexual assault charges and the judge finds for the accused. Unbelievable.
Tricia Foley 1 day ago
We have seen in other cases that someone who has been through a trauma does not have the best of memories – I would imagine that they relive those moments over and over again in their nightmares and details change – our memories change especially after a trauma. From what I have read here it seems that the victims in this case were made combative by the judge and the lawyer. So now these women have been victimized twice – once by the rapist and then again by our justice system. No wonder so few women report assault. Perhaps someone should remind this judge that the girls who were murdered by Ted Bundy went willingly too – at first.
Louise Stephens 1 day ago Reply to @Stan Cohen:
Did she have a lawyer? There is no mention of one for either of the alleged victims. The Crown is acting on behalf of the the state. The victim is a witness, not his or her client. I wonder how much time a prosecutor even has to prepare a witness given the heavy case load before the courts.
Being on a witness stand is very different from a situation where a woman feels physically vulnerable. The judge does not show any awareness of this.
What was a 36-year-old salesman doing in a university study room?
Louise Stephens 1 day ago Reply to @David Reeve:
A young woman I knew was the complainant in the trial of an ex-boyfriend for attempted rape in her apartment. She did get some preparation, since the prosecutor talked with her just before the trial about the sort of questions to expect. This left her terrified and demoralized. The accused changed his plea to guilty at the last minute so she did not have to testify. He received a light sentence and used to walk up and down the sidewalk outside the victim’s apartment building, causing her to be afraid to leave, but she was too scared to call the police again. It was a very damaging experience. This is why I wondered.
It is true that all people find being on the witness stand different, but women on their own in a situation where a man suddenly turns aggressive all know that fighting back might result in their ending up beaten or dead. Making allowance for this in interpreting a woman’s reaction when faced with this threat is not favouritism; it is an acknowledgement of reality. The judge made judgments concerning the first woman’s credibility because he saw her as verbally assertive on the witness stand and felt this undermined her claim to have been intimidated.
I am not at all blaming university security in the second case. There are many mature students. My question is what was the accused’s motive in being in that study space in the afternoon unless he was taking a course. The article does not say he was a student or visiting a friend
Tricia Foley 15 hours ago Reply to @David Reeve:
That is a bit of a stretch David and the accusation that you put forward would not even make it to court without evidence – that is something that happens every single day. But you do not answer my question either – Why would she falsely accuse him knowing full well what she would face in court? Where is there a benefit for her in any of this? Even if he had been found guilty she still had to step up and admit in open court that she did meet the guy for a hookup. It appears that that was the only bit of her testimony that the judge gave credence to – he blamed her for not yelling loud enough, he blamed her for standing up for herself and at the end of the day the judge implied that both victims were liars and their testimony was unreliable. Why?
As a human being and as a judge he should also have questioned who benefited in any way from lying and the only person who benefits in this case is the accused. There is no benefit for either victim in making up their stories – they reported a crime and it appears from your nonsense posts and the judges stance that men still believe that a woman gets what she deserves for putting herself in that situation. I am not asking you to think like a woman here, just asking you to use common sense and logic. Break it down into who benefits from lying.
Lee Donovan 12 hours ago Reply to @Tricia Foley:
The judge did NOT blame the victim. He said that their testimony was contradictory to the actual evidence.
If you scream with paper thin walls he thought someone would hear it. He also said that the sexual assault kit evidence didn’t match what the victim alleged.
Its clear that this guy is a predator. But law and justice are two different things
JN John Newman 2 days ago
It must be both infuriating and incredibly frustrating for victims of sexual assault to read accounts like these.
And while, I have the utmost sympathy for anyone in that position, I don’t know what can be done short of women secretly using voice and video recorders during every encounter.
The fact that five women have independently lodged complaints against this man suggests that, at the very, very least, he is deeply confused about what consensual sex really is. What it more strongly suggests is that he has a pathological lack of respect for women. All of which, ugly though it is, still doesn’t constitute legal evidence. [which sums up one of the huge prejudices in Canadian “law” (largely created by men) when it comes to assaulted women.]
Refer also to:
2017 03 23: MUST WATCH! ‘This Hour Has 22 Minutes’ Sketch: “Judges: a danger to Canadian women”
