Virtanen told the jury trial that the woman, who testified she repeatedly told him “no” before the alleged assault, was an “enthusiastic participant.” Questioned Thursday by one of his defense lawyers, Colleen Elden, Virtanen disputed the woman’s testimony and denied using his body weight to pin her to the bed in his Vancouver hotel room in September 2017. Virtanen appeared to need time to compose himself and briefly put his head in his hands before describing the moment he first heard about the allegation. He tearfully said he was in “absolute disbelief” when his agent told him in April 2021 that a woman was going to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment. Virtanen, now 25, was charged with one count of sexual assault in January following an investigation by Vancouver police. His testimony is expected to continue on Friday. The Crown has completed calling evidence at trial. Virtanen told the court he met the woman when he was 20 and she was 18 at the Calgary Stampede in 2017, and they stayed in touch through Instagram and text messages throughout that summer when they both returned to B.C. They exchanged “flirty texts” and small talk and discussed getting together when he came to Vancouver, she said. Elden asked Virtanen if she thought they were going to have sex before taking her to his hotel room after picking her up from a friend’s house where she was staying. “I wasn’t sure, but that would be up to her,” he said. “It would be her choice.” The woman, whose name is protected by a publication ban, testified earlier this week that she had a “sinking feeling” in her stomach upon arriving at the hotel but trusted Virtanen so she went up to his room. She told the court he was kissing and touching her and she tried to push him away saying she didn’t want to have sex. Virtanen testified that the woman did not seem upset at any point. They mutually began kissing and touching each other while lying in bed and helped each other take off their clothes before having sex, she said. The Canucks placed Virtanen on leave in May 2021 after the assault allegation went public, then bought out his contract the following month. He last played in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League. During cross-examination earlier Thursday, Virtanen’s lawyer, Brock Martland, asked the 23-year-old woman why she attended a preseason game between the Canucks and the Calgary Flames two days after the night of the alleged assault. She told the jury trial that she went to the game with her friend because she had always wanted to watch a professional game, having played sports her whole life. The woman testified that she hadn’t fully processed what had happened and was acting like everything was normal because she wanted to pretend the alleged assault hadn’t happened. She had agreed that the incident she had described in court was an “aggressive rape”, which had been traumatic for her, and that she did not want to see Virtanen afterwards. The woman did not go to the police in September 2017, at the time of the alleged assault. In April 2021, she posted her story on an Instagram page for sexual assault survivors and then spoke to a reporter from Glacier Media about a newspaper story, naming Virtanen as the man who allegedly sexually assaulted her. Martland participated in messages she exchanged with this page. He showed her a screenshot of a message referring to “rumors” about what had happened, saying “It just came across as, ‘Oh, (she) slept with an NHL player, like that was a good thing. I should be proud and I stayed to wonder if it was even considered an attack because of his position in hockey.” “Yes,” she replied. “Over the years, I said I doubted myself because people didn’t believe me.” Martland showed the woman another message where she said people had made “harsh” comments about Virtanen online after his name was linked to her allegation and he was worried it could lead to violence against him. “Obviously I don’t like him for what he did, but I wouldn’t wish violence on him,” she testified in response. “I wanted him to be punished, I wanted him to be held accountable, and even when I went to the police initially, I felt a little uncomfortable, you know, that somebody was accused and I basically ruined their life,” she said. “But at the same time, he didn’t miss a beat when he violated me.” During an earlier cross-examination, Martland suggested the woman could offer an excuse for why she couldn’t have sex, such as saying she was on her period. “I thought, ‘No, I don’t want to do this. I seriously don’t want to do that, it was enough to keep my hands on his hips, push him off me,” she replied. Before concluding his cross-examination on Thursday, Martland apologized for the question because he had not given an excuse, calling it insensitive. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 21, 2022.
