Ex-Woodstock, Ont., mayor found guilty of assault, sexual assault in London court

WARNING: This story contains graphic details of sexual assaults.

A London, Ont., judge has found former Woodstock mayor Trevor Birtch guilty of assault and sexual assault in relation to charges stemming from 2021 by a woman with whom he was in a tumultuous relationship and began dating in April 2020. 

Birtch, 49, who had pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault, was found guilty of two out of the three charges. He was first charged in 2022.

In his nearly two-and-half-hour judgment, Superior Court Justice Michael Carnegie thoroughly assessed testimonies given by the complainant — who can't be identified due to a publication ban — Birtch, and Birtch's 18-year-old son, Ben, during the four-day trial in May.

Carnegie said Birtch's evidence failed to cast a reasonable doubt on the woman's allegations, and was intentionally misleading to make her appear like a jealous and irrational person.

"I found Mr. Birtch's evidentiary agenda clouded any prospect of sincerity and his inconsistency corroded my ability to accept his evidence at all. I am concerned that on multiple occasions he was being deceptive," Carnegie said. 

Charges against Birtch stem from three incidents:

• An alleged sexual assault on Feb. 14, 2021, when the couple went to the Idlewyld Inn and Spa in London.
• An alleged assault in June 2021 when the woman said Birtch pushed her out of his car on a country road after she refused to perform oral sex on him. 
• An alleged sexual assault in December 2021 at a home where Birtch was living. 

In his testimony, Birtch described the woman as clingy and irrational, and said she refused to let him break up with her and would threaten him whenever he tried to call it off.

However, the woman said Birtch had a "Jekyll and Hyde" personality, suddenly turning from friendly and compassionate to angry and hostile on two occasions after she declined his request to perform oral sex. 

Explanation of guilty verdict

In the June 2021 incident, Birtch alleged the woman was intoxicated and got upset and started throwing things at him when she saw him receive phone calls from another woman. Carnegie said he rejected Birtch's evidence about how events unfolded on that day.

The woman said she suffered scrapes and bruises to her elbows, biceps, and right knee after Birtch pushed her from his car onto a gravel road outside her apartment. She took photos and sent them to Birtch, which were later submitted as evidence but weren't forensically analyzed. 

Carnegie pointed that despite the lack of forensic evidence, the woman "was subjected to intentional, unwanted physical force" by Birtch.

In his guilty verdict for sexual assault, Carnegie said the woman's sexual integrity was violated on Feb. 14, 2021, when the couple were at the spa for Valentine's Day. 

Carnegie said he's satisfied with her evidence that Birtch grabbed her head and pushed it down to his crotch without her consent. Birtch alleged the woman was intoxicated and became violent and pushed him off the bed when he rejected her sexual advances.

But Carnegie noted a significant size and height difference between the pair and said if the woman was intoxicated, she wouldn't have the strength to push him off. 

"I accept that she was seeking a romantic getaway, wanting to cuddle her partner not to be forced upon by his unwanted sexual activity," the judge said.

Not guilty decision for Dec. 2021 incident

Carnegie found Birtch not guilty of a second sexual assault charge from December 2021. He said although he rejects Birtch's argument that the woman broke into his bedroom, he's left uncertain about what exactly happened that day.

Ben Birtch recounted how he was abruptly woken up to his dad yelling 'get out' to the woman, and that he later escorted her out of the house.

"Mr. Birtch's account is pure fiction," Carnegie said. "With the history of violence of the woman, who has broken into his home and disrupted his son, I was curious why Mr. Birtch didn't intervene to escort her out himself. He let his teenage son escort her out of the home, this does not square with the history."

Carnegie said Ben's testimony is reliable because he clearly remembered dates when incidents occurred, and was in a difficult situation testifying at his father's trial.

Carnegie also spoke about inconsistencies in Birtch's statements to the police in 2022. While he acknowledged that assessing the woman's credibility was also tricky because her evidence was going back and forth, he said she "largely engaged us into her internal monologue about what happened and her concerns about why."

A sentencing date is scheduled for Sept. 10.

For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.