The first trial begins for a Saskatoon man accused of sexually assaulting a minor

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After learning that her friend Eric Michael had reported Pohorecky to the police, a 15-year-old girl said she told police that Pohorecky touched her inappropriately three times while she was at his home.

The girl testified via video at Pohorecky’s single-judge trial at the Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday.

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Pohorecky, 64, pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and sexual harassment (sexual assault on a person under 16) between March 2020 and August 2020.

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Some details about the relationship between the complainant and Pohorecky are withheld to comply with a publication ban on the complainant’s identity.

The girl testified that Pohorecky grabbed her buttocks with his left hand while she was baking at his kitchen counter in March 2020. She said he did it as he walked behind her to throw something in the trash.

She told prosecutor Lana Morelli that it made her feel “uncomfortable” and that she told a friend what happened later that night.

About a month later, she said, Pohorecky sat next to her on the living room couch, slipped his hand under a blanket she was using and placed his hand on the inside of her thigh over her clothes for about 20 to 30 seconds.

She said he was talking to another child in the room when he did it and that it stopped when she moved further away on the couch.

The girl said she remembered Pohorecky was shirtless and wearing shorts at the time. She said she felt uncomfortable and confused.

She said the third assault occurred two or three months later. Pohorecky ran his hand over her breast after reaching a shopping bag across her body to place it while she sat in the middle of his van.

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Morelli asked if this could have been an accident. The girl said yes, adding that it didn’t feel random because he was looking at her and talking about what they were going to do that night.

She said she wanted to be “somewhere different than there.”

The girl also recounted an incident at an outdoor pool when she caught Pohorecky staring at her cleavage. She said she pulled up her swimsuit and he apologized.

She said the defendant was unaware of any of the other touches.

The court heard she gave a police statement in April 2022 after her friend told her she was making allegations against Pohorecky.

Pohorecky was initially charged with four counts each of sexual assault and sexual harassment against four different minors between 2016 and 2021. The next month, after further investigation, he was charged with another charge of sexual assault and sexual harassment.

One of his sexual assault charges was stayed following the conclusion of his preliminary hearing. His three other sexual assault trials are scheduled to take place separately but consecutively in October.

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Defense attorney Aleida Oberholzer presented photos, some taken by Pohorecky, showing him and his family interacting in their kitchen, living room and caboose-style van.

The girl agreed that the kitchen was small and that there could have been up to four people in it when he grabbed her buttocks.

Oberholzer asked the girl if the touching could have been accidental, as each incident was “seconds long.” The girl agreed that they could have been accidents.

The complainant’s mother testified that her daughter was often at Pohorecky’s home in 2020 and sometimes stayed overnight with her. Under cross-examination, she said she was not aware of any previous incidents in which her daughter’s boyfriend had tried to encourage her daughter to make serious allegations.

After the Crown concluded its case, Oberholzer argued for a targeted acquittal. She said because the complainant testified that the touching may have been accidental, the Crown had not proved the essential elements of the offense required for sexual assault.

Judge David Gerecke is expected to decide on the direct sentence when the trial resumes Wednesday morning.

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