Val-d’Or police officer accused of sexual assault

A Val-d’Or police officer is on trial for sexual assault. Mélina Côté is accused of touching a woman during a drunken evening in 2020.

The events occurred on the night of June 23 to 24, 2020.

The complainant’s identity is protected under a court-issued publication ban.

A first witness

The alleged victim began her testimony Tuesday morning at the Val-d’Or courthouse. The trial is scheduled to last four days.

The complainant and the accused had known each other for several years. During the National Day evening in 2020, they meet at the private residence of a friend.

Since they had consumed alcohol, they preferred to sleep there, so as not to take their car.

The alleged victim has an autism spectrum disorder, according to what she told before judge Jean-Pierre Gervais, and does not like physical contact.

At a certain point during the evening, the accused made advances towards the complainant, who rejected them, again according to her testimony.

Later, while the two women were lying on an inflatable mattress, the accused allegedly slipped her hand under the victim’s sweater and into her underwear and forced him to touch her breasts and genitals.

Physical and emotional impacts

The complainant told the court that she had hesitated for a long time to file a complaint. I didn’t want to ruin his lifeshe reported.

She also continued to see the accused in the following months, but she began to experience episodes of hyperventilation and tremors in his presence.

There is a me before, and a me after the attacksaid the alleged victim with emotion, adding that she had had dark thoughts and had withdrawn into herself.

It was finally a year after the events, by contacting the Center for Assistance and Combating Sexual Assault (CALACS), that she understood that she had experienced an attack.

She attempted a restorative justice approach, which was allegedly refused by the accused, which is when she decided to file an official criminal complaint.

The complainant finished her testimony late Tuesday and will be cross-examined by the defense on Wednesday.