Sex with woman was 'all 100% consensual,' accused bar owner testifies in gang sexual assault trial

The former owner of the College Street Bar, caught on surveillance video engaging in sexual activity with a woman who has accused him of raping her, told the jury in his trial Wednesday that the sex was "100 per cent consensual."

Gavin MacMillan started testifying in the late afternoon in his own defence in Ontario Superior Court.

MacMillan and former bar manager Enzo De Jesus Carrasco are both standing trial on charges of gang sexual assault, forcible confinement and administering a stupefying drug. De Jesus Carrasco also faces two additional charges of sexual assault. 

Justice Michael Dambrot is presiding over the case. Both men have pleaded not guilty to all charges.

During the trial, the court has seen more than nine hours of surveillance video from inside the bar on Dec. 14, 2016.

The two accused were captured on cameras snorting cocaine, drinking and taking part in multiple sex acts with the woman, sometimes together, sometimes individually while the other watched. The sex acts took place in the bar, storage room, and the office of the bar.

The key issue for the jury to decide is 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's lawyer, Chantelle LaFitte, started her defence with a direct question.

"I am going to ask you straight up: was there any part of that night Dec.14, 2016 when you were engaging in sexual activity with [the woman] that was not consensual?

'Submissive-dominant relationship'

"There is no doubt in my mind that it was all 100 per cent consensual," MacMillan answered, adding that the woman "made it very clear that she was into a submissive-dominant relationship and that was her preference."

LaFitte then asked: "Was there any point in the night where you felt that she did not have the capacity or was unable to consent to the sexual activity that was taking place?

"No. Absolutely not," MacMillan told the jury. 

The woman, who was 24 at the time of the alleged assault, has told the court she had consumed five drinks and willingly snorted cocaine with MacMillan and De Jesus Carrasco, but after that her memory was "hazy."

"I don't remember what happened ... so how could that have been consensual in any way? she said before finishing four days of testimony earlier in the day.

She added the cocaine she snorted with a straw left her feeling "very, very, very dizzy and very sick."

MacMillan is known as a "flair bartender," an entertainment-based style involving tricks with shakers and bottles.

Over the years, he's made numerous television appearances, and has designed a Canadian bartender training program called BartenderOne.

He testified he has trained 32,000 bartenders at his school in Toronto over the last 14 years. 

MacMillan also told the jury on the night of the alleged sexual assault his bar was closed to the public because he and De Jesus Carrasco were training bartenders from the school.

The woman dropped by to see a friend who was taking his course that evening. MacMillan said he noticed her because she was wearing "a leather dog collar and I commented on it and mentioned that Enzo also had a similar dog collar."  

Video showed the friend and other students leaving the bar, while the woman stayed behind with MacMillan and De Jesus Carrasco. 

Eight security cameras recorded hours of sexual activity throughout the night. It continued until the woman left early the next morning.

MacMillan is expected to continue his testimony when the trial resumes Thursday.