Guilty verdicts delivered for both men in College Street Bar gang rape case

A jury has found two men guilty of gang raping and drugging a woman at the College Street Bar three years ago, but charges of forcible confinement against former owner Gavin MacMillan, 44, and former bar manager Enzo De Jesus ​​Carrasco, 34, have been stayed.

De Jesus Carrasco was found not guilty of another sex assault charge involving the same woman at the bar. A further charge of sex assault at his home the next morning was stayed, with jurors deadlocked on it. 

The two men showed little emotion after their verdict was handed down Saturday. Macmillan, the former owner, hugged his mother tightly, while De Jesus Carrasco looked back at his girlfriend as she cried in the gallery. 

For weeks, jurors in a Toronto courtroom pored over grainy security camera video in the contentious sexual assault trial. Their deliberations lasted four days after seven weeks of hearing evidence. 

"We are not disappointed," Crown Rick Nathanson told reporters outside the courtroom. "We are very happy and grateful, especially for the complainant who is a true survivor and showed tremendous strength and courage throughout all of this."

The College Street Bar's eight surveillance cameras had captured most of what the Crown alleged was an all-night sexual assault on the night of Dec.14, 2016.

At issue was whether the woman had the capacity to consent to the "rough" sex that she engaged in after having consumed multiple drinks and having snorted cocaine. Her identity is protected by a publication ban. 

MacMillan and De Jesus ​​Carrasco had testified the sex was 100 per cent consensual. The two had pleaded not guilty to charges of gang sexual assault, forcible confinement and administering a stupefying drug. De Jesus Carrasco also pleaded not guilty to two additional charges of sexual assault.

De Jesus Carrasco, not a Canadian citizen, has been taken back into custody, the judge saying he could be a flight risk.

The jury deciding De Jesus Carrasco's fate did not hear that he is also facing other sex-related charges. The Crown says three women he met through the bar came forward soon after De Jesus Carrasco was charged in connection with the case he's now been convicted in. 

MacMillan, meanwhile, will remain on house arrest.

The Crown says he will be seeking "a significant penitentiary sentence," and that the victim was "relieved with the result." 

De Jesus Carrasco's lawyer Uma Kancharla told reporters her client maintains his innocence and is considering a possible appeal, adding if the video had contained audio, she believes jurors would have arrived at a very different result. 

A bail hearing for De Jesus ​​Carrasco has been set for Dec.12, when more information about his sentencing is expected. Macmillan is set to be sentenced Jan. 29.