Canadian military member faces unprecedented prosecution for alleged sexual assault at CFB Borden

Warning: Readers may find some content in this article disturbing or triggering.

An unprecedented prosecution is underway in Barrie criminal court against an active member of the Canadian military accused of sexually assaulting a female soldier while at Canadian Forces Base Borden in 2018.

"It happened so damn quickly that, you know, you don't even have time to think," the complainant told military police in a 2018 interview.

The woman had a publication ban on her identification lifted, still, CTV News will not be naming her at this time.

The complainant says she was in a common room unwinding and headed up to her room when Oleksii Silin, whom she considered a colleague, pulled her into a broom closet, confined her and sexually assaulted her in May 2018.

"I just turned my back on him, and I just bent over, and I said, okay, let him finish, and I'm out of here. So, I just gave up," she said during the 2018 interview with military police.

She told investigators she felt helpless and feared for her safety.

"He's a lot stronger than me, so I wasn't even going to try to attempt to fight," she said.

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Silin, ranking as a private in May 2018, was interviewed by investigators from the military police, telling them his accuser told him she wanted to go to sleep, "and then I take her hand and just maybe that's why like force."

"And after that, I like kissed her and she didn't say nothing," he added.

The Judge Advocate General did not follow through with the charges and cited a lack of training by those who conducted the interviews with Silin and his accuser.

Further to efforts by the complainant, who was seeking leave to prosecute Silin privately in civilian criminal court, the Ontario Crown has indicted Silin.

She says the military justice system has failed her and countless others whose reports of sexual assault and misconduct in the military have been brushed aside.

Silin, who is awaiting trial, is an active member of the Canadian Armed Forces and ranks as a corporal. The Canadian Armed Forces confirmed to CTV News Cpl. Oleksii Silin is a vehicle technician at 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in the 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

Toronto lawyer Mitchell Worsoff represents him. The accused makes his next court appearance later this month.

The allegations against him have not been tested in court.