Evidence disputes delay hearing for Canadian Forces soldier accused of sexual assault

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A hearing scheduled for Thursday in the case of a Canadian Forces soldier accused of sexually assaulting a female member at CFB Borden six years ago ultimately didn't proceed as planned.

Arguments over the potential admissibility of evidence in Oleksii Silin's case stalled the proceedings held in a virtual courtroom based in Collingwood.

The applications concern evidence relating to the complainant's private records and whether her sexual history can be brought up in court.

Despite the complainant having a publication ban on her identification lifted, CTV News will not be naming her at this time.

The unprecedented prosecution began in Barrie criminal court after the complainant came forward to military police, who ultimately decided not to move forward against then-Private Silin.

The Judge Advocate General did not pursue the charges, citing a lack of training by those who conducted the interviews with the woman and Silin.

In a May 16 interview, Silin claimed, in his broken English, that the complainant exaggerated events.

"I said, let's go with me, and she said 'no, like I want to go sleep,' and then I take her hand and just maybe that's why, like, force," he explained.Cpl. Oleksii Silin (L) in a Canadian Forces interview on May 16, 2018. (Supplied)

The complaint alleges the sexual assault happened in May 2018, when she says Silin pulled her into a broom closet, confined her, and sexually assaulted her.

During a military police interview that same month, she alleged, "It happened so damn quickly that, you know, you don't even have time to think."

Silin, in the May 16 interview, said, " I, like, kissed her, and she didn't say nothing - like she's not agree or she want to go or something like this." The complainant maintained it was not consensual.

In her 2018 military police interview, the complainant said, "I should've fought. Anyway, [I] can't take back what I didn't do," adding, "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."

During the interview, 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 attempt to fight."

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

Silin, an active member of the Canadian Armed Forces and now a corporal, is represented by Toronto lawyer Mitchell Worsoff.

The trial is scheduled for October.

The allegations against the accused have not been tested in court.

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