Teens face sex assault charges
Party pranks result in six people charged in Turtleford area case
By Lana Haight
The StarPhoenix
September 4, 2009
Several teenage boys in the Turtleford area are facing sexual assault charges in connection with an incident involving another boy at a drinking party last winter.
"I can't believe this is even happening," said the woman whose teenage son hosted the party, which was held Friday, March 13. "We're on pins and needles around here."
Her son, who is now 16, was charged Aug. 17 with sexual assault under Sec. 271 of the Criminal Code. Also charged are three other boys who were between 15 and 19 years old at the time of the alleged offence and two men who were between 18 and 19 years old at the time of the alleged offence, says RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Carole Raymond. She wouldn't provide the exact ages of those charged, citing the need to protect the victim.
The mom, who cannot be named because it would identify her son, who is a minor, isn't sure why he is charged with sexual assault.
"Section 271 of the Criminal Code is very vague when it comes to sexual assault. It basically states that to touch someone in a sexual manner without their consent. So it's very, very vague. What kind of sexual assault is he being charged with? I don't know," she said.
She and her husband had agreed to let their son have the party, which started at around 10 p.m. with about 25 of his friends.
"I did not buy any booze for these kids. I supplied pop and chips and food. It was supposed to be that kind of a party. We kept going downstairs and checking to be sure everything was under control," she said.
At one point in the night, the dad saw the teenagers were drinking beer.
"Somebody had brought some in. How do you police that? I guess when my husband went down and he saw the Kokanee, the party should have stopped and everybody left right then. Hindsight is 20-20."
By 1 a.m., most of the teenagers had gone home. If they hadn't been drinking, the host couple returned their car keys. Some teens were picked up by their parents. About 10 boys remained and planned to stay the night, says the mom.
"If they are going to have a few beers or whatever, I didn't want them drinking and driving or going to a gravel pit or something like that. You have it in your home. You try to control the situation," the mom said.
By 3 a.m., the parents had had enough of the loud music that was keeping them awake. The mom says she went downstairs, pulled the plug on the stereo system and shut the party down. The teenagers were playing cards and the 15-year-old boy identified as the victim was sitting on a couch.
It wasn't until several days after the party that the mom learned Turtleford RCMP were investigating a possible sexual assault that occurred at her home.
At some point during the night, the 15-year-old had passed out, says the mom.
"They pulled his pants down and propped a beer bottle between his butt cheeks and took a picture," she said.
"He apparently didn't even know the picture was taken until the next day."
The mom says her son told her he doesn't know anything about the beer bottle, but they did pull pranks on the boy.
"They did the shaving cream. And I know they did marker on him because in the morning, the boy got up to go to work and I said, 'You can't go to work with marker all over your face.' "
Since learning about the incident at her home, the mom has heard many stories from her son about parties he's been to. He told her he had been "tea-bagged," the term used to describe boys rubbing their genitals over the face of someone who has passed out. At another party, a teenage boy shoved a ping-pong ball in a boy's anus.
"There's no line. They don't know the boundaries. That kind of thing. I'm not saying my son is innocent, but I'm saying he's not the only one that would have taken part in this," said the mom, whose son was paddled with a two-by-four in the fall of 2008 when he was entering high school.
"Both cheeks, he had welts the size of a fist on each cheek and that's apparently acceptable. And all this, all this other stuff is apparently acceptable.
"How is that acceptable at parties? But apparently that's what goes on but the parents are the last ones to know."
The father of the alleged victim says he didn't realize kids in the area were doing such things at parties.
"This was the first I heard of it when this happened," he said, adding his son has never taken advantage of someone who had passed out.
When asked to explain what happened at the March party from his son's perspective, he had no comment.
"Let the law handle things," he said.
The mom of the charged teenager is incredulous that criminal charges were laid in the incident at her home. After the party and until the charges were laid in mid-August, the victim, her son and their friends continued to hang out.
"He wasn't the geek, the nerd or somebody that the kids picked on. No, he was just one of the gang."
In June, the alleged victim even asked to spend the night at her house again, but after learning what went on in their basement in March, she and her husband said no more parties.
Police have imposed their own conditions.
"Due to this my son is forbidden to talk to 21 of his friends. They made him do an undertaking that he couldn't talk to 21 of his friends, including his girlfriend," she said, adding the kids can talk to one another at school only.
"It's made his life and all his friends pretty miserable."
The six accused are scheduled to appear in court in St. Walburg on Sept. 15. Turtleford is about 200 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
WHAT?
Party pranks result in six people charged in Turtleford area case
By Lana Haight
The StarPhoenix
September 4, 2009
Several teenage boys in the Turtleford area are facing sexual assault charges in connection with an incident involving another boy at a drinking party last winter.
"I can't believe this is even happening," said the woman whose teenage son hosted the party, which was held Friday, March 13. "We're on pins and needles around here."
Her son, who is now 16, was charged Aug. 17 with sexual assault under Sec. 271 of the Criminal Code. Also charged are three other boys who were between 15 and 19 years old at the time of the alleged offence and two men who were between 18 and 19 years old at the time of the alleged offence, says RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Carole Raymond. She wouldn't provide the exact ages of those charged, citing the need to protect the victim.
The mom, who cannot be named because it would identify her son, who is a minor, isn't sure why he is charged with sexual assault.
"Section 271 of the Criminal Code is very vague when it comes to sexual assault. It basically states that to touch someone in a sexual manner without their consent. So it's very, very vague. What kind of sexual assault is he being charged with? I don't know," she said.
She and her husband had agreed to let their son have the party, which started at around 10 p.m. with about 25 of his friends.
"I did not buy any booze for these kids. I supplied pop and chips and food. It was supposed to be that kind of a party. We kept going downstairs and checking to be sure everything was under control," she said.
At one point in the night, the dad saw the teenagers were drinking beer.
"Somebody had brought some in. How do you police that? I guess when my husband went down and he saw the Kokanee, the party should have stopped and everybody left right then. Hindsight is 20-20."
By 1 a.m., most of the teenagers had gone home. If they hadn't been drinking, the host couple returned their car keys. Some teens were picked up by their parents. About 10 boys remained and planned to stay the night, says the mom.
"If they are going to have a few beers or whatever, I didn't want them drinking and driving or going to a gravel pit or something like that. You have it in your home. You try to control the situation," the mom said.
By 3 a.m., the parents had had enough of the loud music that was keeping them awake. The mom says she went downstairs, pulled the plug on the stereo system and shut the party down. The teenagers were playing cards and the 15-year-old boy identified as the victim was sitting on a couch.
It wasn't until several days after the party that the mom learned Turtleford RCMP were investigating a possible sexual assault that occurred at her home.
At some point during the night, the 15-year-old had passed out, says the mom.
"They pulled his pants down and propped a beer bottle between his butt cheeks and took a picture," she said.
"He apparently didn't even know the picture was taken until the next day."
The mom says her son told her he doesn't know anything about the beer bottle, but they did pull pranks on the boy.
"They did the shaving cream. And I know they did marker on him because in the morning, the boy got up to go to work and I said, 'You can't go to work with marker all over your face.' "
Since learning about the incident at her home, the mom has heard many stories from her son about parties he's been to. He told her he had been "tea-bagged," the term used to describe boys rubbing their genitals over the face of someone who has passed out. At another party, a teenage boy shoved a ping-pong ball in a boy's anus.
"There's no line. They don't know the boundaries. That kind of thing. I'm not saying my son is innocent, but I'm saying he's not the only one that would have taken part in this," said the mom, whose son was paddled with a two-by-four in the fall of 2008 when he was entering high school.
"Both cheeks, he had welts the size of a fist on each cheek and that's apparently acceptable. And all this, all this other stuff is apparently acceptable.
"How is that acceptable at parties? But apparently that's what goes on but the parents are the last ones to know."
The father of the alleged victim says he didn't realize kids in the area were doing such things at parties.
"This was the first I heard of it when this happened," he said, adding his son has never taken advantage of someone who had passed out.
When asked to explain what happened at the March party from his son's perspective, he had no comment.
"Let the law handle things," he said.
The mom of the charged teenager is incredulous that criminal charges were laid in the incident at her home. After the party and until the charges were laid in mid-August, the victim, her son and their friends continued to hang out.
"He wasn't the geek, the nerd or somebody that the kids picked on. No, he was just one of the gang."
In June, the alleged victim even asked to spend the night at her house again, but after learning what went on in their basement in March, she and her husband said no more parties.
Police have imposed their own conditions.
"Due to this my son is forbidden to talk to 21 of his friends. They made him do an undertaking that he couldn't talk to 21 of his friends, including his girlfriend," she said, adding the kids can talk to one another at school only.
"It's made his life and all his friends pretty miserable."
The six accused are scheduled to appear in court in St. Walburg on Sept. 15. Turtleford is about 200 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
WHAT?
