Advocate against sexual exploitation convicted of sexual assault

A man who ran a B.C.-based foundation dedicated to fighting sexual exploitation and gender-based violence has been convicted of sexually assaulting a woman in her home.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice has convicted Joel James Conway of breaking into the woman's Saanich, B.C., townhouse as she slept in her room more than two years ago.

During the trial, the victim — identified in court documents as A.B. — said she woke up to find Conway standing over her bed after she showed him and a friend out of her home earlier in the evening.

Conway was later charged with sexual assault and breaking and entering. He was found guilty of both charges on March 26.

Conway was once on the board of directors at the Victoria-based Fortress Foundation, a "pioneering organization focused on the education and empowerment of men, to address and eradicate the demand for sexual exploitation." 

His biography on the organization's now-defunct website described him as "a mentor and role model for young men everywhere," teaching them "how to prevent sexual exploitation before it starts."

Introduced by mutual friend

Court documents published online Wednesday said Conway and A.B. had been out at the same hotel in Victoria on March 31, 2017. They said Conway was with a friend, identified in the documents as Mr. S., while A.B. had been at dinner.

Conway and Mr. S. crossed paths with A.B. outside as they were leaving, the documents said; Mr. S. knew A.B. already and introduced her to Conway. Court heard that the three of them decided to split a cab to Saanich, about 12 minutes away.

A.B. invited Conway and Mr. S. inside her townhouse for drinks when they arrived, the documents said, adding that the three of them drank alcohol and used cocaine before the men left in a taxi, without incident, around 4:20 a.m. 

A.B. told the court she waved goodbye, locked her front door and went to bed. Conway and Mr. S. decided to go back to Victoria for Conway's car, and Conway drove his friend home.

In his reasons for judgment, Justice Frits Verhoeben said Conway told his friend during the drive that he wanted to go back to A.B.'s townhouse.

"[Conway] said that he 'thought he had a chance' or a 'shot' with A.B. Mr. S. told him not to go. In one manner or another, he reminded Mr. Conway that he was married and had a family. According to both of them, Mr. S. said, 'Don't be sh-t,' meaning that he should go home to his family."

The judgment said A.B. woke up some time later to find Conway naked in her room before he assaulted her.

'A complete fabrication'

Conway told the court that A.B. had consented to the encounter and that she was lying by saying otherwise, but Verhoeven didn't think Conway was credible.

The justice wrote that Conway's version of events was "highly implausible" and, at times, "a complete fabrication."

Verhoeven also said any inconsistences in A.B.'s otherwise "credible" testimony were "relatively minor, and unsurprising," given what had happened.

The justice said A.B. was "exhausted," intoxicated, and went to bed "alone, with no expectation nor any reason whatsoever to expect that Mr. Conway would return" after waving goodbye to Conway and Mr. S.

The judgment said it's not known exactly how Conway got into A.B.'s house after he had initially left because the front door was latched, but Crown theorized that he climbed in through her balcony.

CBC News has reached out to the Fortress Foundation for comment.