First trial begins for Saskatoon man accused of sexually assaulting minors

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After learning that her friend had reported Eric Michael Pohorecky to police, a 15-year-old girl says she told police that Pohorecky inappropriately touched her three times while she was at his home.

The girl testified by video on Tuesday at Pohorecky’s judge-alone trial at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench.

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Pohorecky, 64, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and sexual interference (sexual assault of a person under the age of 16) between March 2020 and August 2020.

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Some details about the relationship between the complainant and Pohorecky are being withheld to comply with a publication ban on the complainant’s identity.

The girl testified that Pohorecky grabbed her buttocks with his left hand as she was baking at his kitchen counter in March 2020. She said he did it while walking behind her to throw something in the garbage.

She told Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli that it made her feel “uncomfortable,” and that she told a friend about what happened later that night.

She said about a month later, Pohorecky sat beside her on his living room couch, slid his hand under a blanket she was using and rested his hand on the inside of her thigh, over her clothing, for about 20 to 30 seconds.

She said he was talking to another child in the room when he did it, and that it ended when she moved further away on the couch.

The girl said she remembered that Pohorecky was shirtless and wearing shorts at the time. She was uncomfortable and confused, she said.

She testified that the third assault happened two or three months later, when Pohorecky slid his hand across her chest after reaching over her body to set down a grocery bag while she was sitting in the middle of his van.

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Morelli asked if this could have been an accident. The girl said yes, adding it didn’t feel accidental because he was looking at her and talking about what they were going to do that night.

She said she wanted to “be anywhere else but there.”

The girl also recounted an incident at an outdoor swimming pool when she caught Pohorecky staring at her cleavage. She said she pulled her bathing suit top up, and he apologized.

She said the accused did not acknowledge any of the other touches.

Court heard she gave a police statement in April 2022 after her friend informed her that she was making allegations against Pohorecky.

Pohorecky was initially charged with four counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference against four different minors between 2016 and 2021. The next month, he was charged with another count of sexual assault and sexual interference after further investigation.

One of his sexual assault charges was stayed at the conclusion of his preliminary hearing. His three other sexual assault trials are scheduled to run separately, but consecutively, in October.

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Defence lawyer Aleida Oberholzer presented photos, some taken by Pohorecky, showing him and his family interacting in their galley-style kitchen, living room and van.

The girl agreed the kitchen was small, and that there could have been up to four people in the space when he grabbed her buttocks.

Oberholzer asked the girl if the touching could have been accidental, since each instance was “seconds long.” The girl agreed they could have been accidents.

The complainant’s mother testified that her daughter was often at Pohorecky’s home in 2020 and would sometimes sleep over. Under cross-examination, she said she was unaware of any prior instances of her daughter’s friend trying to influence her daughter to make serious allegations.

After the Crown closed its case, Oberholzer argued for a directed verdict of acquittal. She said because the complainant testified that the touching could have been accidental, the Crown has not proven the essential element of intention necessary for sexual assault.

Justice David Gerecke is expected to give a decision on the direct verdict when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.

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