WARNING: This story contains graphic details that may be triggering to some readers.
An RCMP Southeast District homicide detective pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning (Feb. 16) to a charge of sexual assault.
Chad Lincoln Vance was charged in 2019 for allegedly raping a woman in his Kelowna home nearly four years prior.
The woman, whose name and relationship to Vance is protected under a publication ban, took the stand as the trial began, recounting disturbing details of her allegation.
While visiting Vance, the woman said she was suntanning on the deck on a warm day in July 2015. She claims Vance came up behind her, pulled her bikini bottoms down, and attempted to rape her anally. She said the assault went on for 10 minutes as Vance allegedly pinned her to the chair she was lying in.
“He tried with all his might,” she testified.
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She testified she shouted at Vance, begging him to get off her but claimed he remained silent the whole time. The assault “seemed like it lasted forever,” she told the court. She said when he did get off of her, he looked angry.
“I said, ‘That f—cking hurt.’ And he said, ‘You can’t tell me that hurt,'” she testified. “I’ll never forget that.”
In cross-examination, Vance’s defence counsel Trevor Martin tried to plot holes in the woman’s claimed timeline. Due to the offence occurring almost six years ago, the woman said she only recalled rough timeframes of when specific events occurred. Martin pressed on this nonetheless, revealing a few inconsistencies.
Though she claimed she visited a clinic days after Vance allegedly assaulted her, the defence claims she didn’t go until more than three weeks later.
Transcripts of the woman’s police report also contain conflicting information. The woman told the officer investigating her report that she immediately cut off contact with Vance following the alleged offence. However, she admitted to the court she kept in contact with him very occasionally through text and even met up with him more than a year after the offence with hopes of rekindling the relationship.
Vance, who remains out on bail, sat alongside his lawyer throughout Tuesday’s proceedings, showing little reaction to the emotional testimony.
The trial is scheduled to continue throughout the week.
Following the criminal charge in June 2019, the RCMP suspended Vance with pay. By Aug. 2020, he was suspended without pay, but it’s not clear when that change was made. Vance is also scheduled for an RCMP conduct hearing in April, in which he faces potential dismissal from the force.
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