“I said no many times,” the woman, whose identity is covered by a publication ban, testified Monday in P.C. Superior Court. Virtanen, 25, was charged with one count of sexual assault in January following a police investigation into the alleged incident, which took place on Sept. 26, 2017. Virtanen was playing for the Canucks at the time. Vancouver police began their investigation in May 2021 after the 23-year-old woman filed a complaint. Virtanen sat in the courtroom Monday dressed in a blue suit and listened intently to the Crown attorney’s opening statement and the woman’s testimony. The judge and jury heard the woman was 18 when she met Virtanen at the Calgary Stampede in July 2017. She said she didn’t recognize him at the time and doesn’t follow the Canucks. While in Calgary, the woman and Virtanen kissed and exchanged numbers, then stayed in touch via text and direct messages on Instagram after they both returned to B.C. In September 2017, the woman traveled to Vancouver to visit friends and take part in a photo shoot. He texted Virtanen that they would see each other, and when he suggested we meet the night he arrived, she offered to meet another day. “I didn’t want to be put in a situation that made me uncomfortable,” she said. “I was worried that late at night, they would put me in a sexual situation.” Eventually, the woman agreed to meet Virtanen that night, and he picked her up at a friend’s house. The woman said they didn’t talk about what they were going to do and she thought they were going somewhere public. When Virtanen took her to a downtown Vancouver hotel, the woman said she “felt sick.” “I had this kind of sinking feeling in my stomach,” she said. “It was exactly the situation I didn’t want to be put in.” The woman said she had no intention of having sex with Virtanen. “If I wanted to have sex, even if there was a part of me that wanted it, I would travel all day,” she said. “I would shower again. To be honest, I probably would have shaved my legs. And I didn’t do any of that because I was so confident and determined not to.” The woman said she trusted Virtanen, so she went up to his hotel room. He said he kissed and touched her repeatedly and she pushed him repeatedly, telling him “I seriously don’t want to have sex with you”. “‘No no. I said no,’” she said. “I kept saying no and I don’t want it.” The woman testified that Virtanen sexually assaulted her. She said she spent the night in the hotel room and in the morning, asked him to drive her back to her boyfriend’s house. She said he told her he couldn’t because he had to go to hockey practice and instead gave her money for a taxi. Crown counsel Alan Ip asked the woman how the situation made her feel. “Very hackneyed, gross and messed up,” he said. “Shattered.” The woman said she did not go to the police after the alleged assault. “I just hadn’t come to terms with the fact that I was raped,” she said. “I was confused.” The trial is expected to continue on Tuesday. The Canucks placed Virtanen on waivers in May 2021 and his contract was bought out the following month. He last played for Spartak Moscow in the Russian KHL and is out of custody. This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 18, 2022.
