Civil trial begins against Canadian Forces soldier accused of sexual assault

The civilian sexual assault trial of a Canadian Forces soldier began Monday in a Barrie, Ont., courtroom, with the accuser taking the witness stand to describe an attack inside a broom closet at a military base

Cpl. Oleksii Silin faces one charge of aggravated sexual assault and another charge of forcible confinement stemming from an alleged May 2018 incident at CFB Borden, a military base about 100 kilometers north of Toronto.

Silin, 44, has pleaded not guilty and has chosen to be tried by a judge alone.

The Ontario Court of Justice trial, before Justice Robert Gattrell, is scheduled to last until Thursday.

Silin was charged after the alleged victim, Elle Jaszberenyi, filed a private prosecution in October 2022 and the Crown’s office in Barrie agreed to take on the case.

Jaszberenyi, who was a soldier at the time of the alleged incident, made the strange move after the army refused to process his sexual assault complaint following a 2018 investigation.

His attempts to reopen the case through the Military Police Complaints Commission, a quasi-judicial civilian oversight body, and the Federal Court also failed.

It was the first time a military sexual assault case in Canada was reopened through a private prosecution, according to Bruce Boyden, Jaszberenyi’s lawyer at the time.

A private prosecution provides an avenue for members of the public who believe a crime has been committed to try to bring charges against a person without a police investigation.

Jaszberenyi, who has since left the Canadian Forces, requested that the publication ban on his name be lifted. The names of sexual assault victims are often covered by publication bans during court proceedings.

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“I just wanted to survive”

During her testimony from the witness stand, Jaszberenyi said Silin “threw her … and then pushed her” into the closet of a shack broom after sharing a drink in a common room to celebrate the completion of a training milestone.

“I started hitting him on the head and upper torso saying, ‘No, no, no,'” Jaszberenyi, 60, said during his testimony.

“I just wanted to survive, that’s all.”

Silin has admitted to being in the broom cupboard with Jaszberenyi on the day of the incident.

“I think the issue in this case, your honor, is consent,” Crown attorney Julie Janiuk said.

Silin’s attorney, Mitchell Worsoff, began his cross-examination of Jaszberenyi Monday afternoon.

Their initial questions focused on several text messages exchanged between the two and visits to each other’s rooms during training at CFB Shilo in Manitoba, before both were sent to CFB Borden.

“He was happy to hang out with Mr. Silin and he seemed to be happy to hang out with you, too,” Worsoff said on cross-examination.

Jaszberenyi responded by saying that he felt he had no choice but to try to get along with all his fellow soldiers during training.

“You don’t want anyone to turn on you and hate you, because things can get dangerous very quickly,” he said.

Jaszberenyi’s cross-examination continues Tuesday morning.

Worsoff said his client, Silin, plans to take the stand in his own defense and could begin his testimony Tuesday afternoon.

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The military prosecutor dismissed the case

Canadian Forces National Investigative Service (CFNIS) investigators, who initially investigated the 2018 incident, believed they had a strong case against Silin based on some statements he made during an interrogation.

However, a military prosecutor dismissed the charges after concluding that Jaszberenyi “subjectively consented” during the incident.

The prosecutor based the determination on statements Jaszberenyi made to military police investigators. The prosecutor’s legal reasoning remains hidden from public scrutiny.

An investigative assessment by the Military Police Complaints Commission in June 2020 found flaws in the way the CFNIS handled Jaszberenyi’s case, citing deficiencies in the interviews with both Jaszberenyi and Silin, as well as the lack of location of possible witnesses.

“The sexual assault investigation … was inadequate,” the assessment said.