A 20-year-old Quebec man, who raped a young woman after contacting her on the dating application Fruitz, has just been found guilty of sexual assault because his victim was too drunk to consent.
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“When the complainant is intoxicated, it is the responsibility of the accused to take reasonable steps to ensure that she consents to each sexual activity […]. His behavior demonstrates complete nonchalance, if not total contempt, towards the complainant and the risk to her health,” criticizes Luce Kennedy, judge at the Court of Quebec.
In his recent judgment, we learned that Zachary Tardif, a hockey player from Rivière-du-Loup, met his victim in January 2023 on Fruitz. Two days after having had a “match” on the dating platform, the twenty-year-old went to the young woman’s house for an evening washed down with vodka, while her parents were away.
“The complainant states that at the end of the evening, she went to her room to go to bed because she was intoxicated. The accused enters, gets into her bed and commits sexual touching on several parts of her body,” we can read in the court document.
Assaulted without a condom
Tardif therefore took advantage of his advanced state of intoxication to penetrate her without a condom, the Court then specified. The Quebecer never asked for consent at the time of the act.
Worse still, Zachary Tardif explained to the judge that the young woman’s alleged moans proved that she consented to the touching.
Tardif, in this photo, explained to the judge that his very drunk victim would have consented to the relationship since she was moaning.
Photo taken from Zachary Tardif’s Facebook
“Believing that the silence, passivity or ambiguous behavior of the complainant constitutes consent on her part is an error of law and does not constitute a means of defense,” ruled magistrate Luce Kennedy.
The Court of Quebec ultimately found him guilty of sexual assault. Tardif will be in court again to hear his sentence this month.
“Here, the accused’s belief is clearly based on tacit consent and relies on myths and stereotypes, claiming that she should have clearly told him that she did not consent. […] He knows that she does not consent to the sexual touching and the sexual relationship without a condom that follows,” concludes the Court.
Take care
The judge also warned anyone wanting to have sex with an intoxicated partner in the future.
“The more invasive the sexual activity (penetration) or the greater the risk to the health and safety of the participants (without a condom), the more demanding the reasonable measures obligation. The same applies when, as here, the accused and the complainant know each other little,” she warns.
According to Statistics Canada, only 1 to 2% of sexual assaults of the “date rape” type, i.e. rapes committed during a date, are reported to the police.
Interface of Fruitz, the application used by Zachary Tardif to meet his victim.
Screenshot of apps.apple.com website
What is the Fruitz app?
A platform for meeting people with “the same dating desires as you,” according to the company’s website. Users can therefore send each other a cherry “to find their other half” or even a grape “for a glass of wine without taking the bunch”.
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