A former College St. bar owner wept and his manager appeared stunned as a jury convicted both men of gang sexual assault and administering a stupefying substance to a female customer inside the club.
Gavin MacMillan, 44, wiped away tears after he and co-accused Enzo De Jesus Carrasco, 34, were found guilty of jointly sexually assaulting and drugging the then-24-year-old woman in mid-December 2016.
Carrasco, who was acquitted of a count of sexual assault against the victim, is now in custody. He will face two additional trials involving three other women.
Crown attorney Rick Nathanson asked Justice Michael Dambrot to revoke the bail on both men as they’re now facing significant penitentiary terms and lost the presumption of innocence.
“We are very happy and grateful to the complainant, a survivor who showed tremendous strength and courage throughout all of this,” Nathanson said after the verdict.
“She seemed more motivated out of concern for the community than for herself,” added Nathanson. “She’s aware of the outcome and is relieved by the verdict.
“We’re grateful that the jury worked very hard. They took their task very seriously and they had to work through some very difficult and troubling evidence, which they didn’t expect (hours of bar surveillance video capturing the graphic sexual content),” said Nathanson.
Nathanson also credited the Toronto Police sex crimes unit for their diligent work from the start of the case to the conclusion.
MacMillan remains free on bail but Dambrot placed him under strict house arrest.
The jury couldn’t reach a verdict against Carrasco for another sexual assault on the woman that allegedly took place on the morning of Dec. 15, 2016 at his home. No verdict was reached on charges of unlawful confinement against both men. Both charges were stayed.
Both accused testified they engaged in prolonged BDSM orgy with a willing woman who wanted to be dominated and to play a submissive role. Their lawyers, Sean Robichaud and Uma Kancharla, argued both men should be cleared of sordid allegations.
“We are looking at grounds of appeal and my client maintains his innocence,” said Kancharla, who represented Carrasco.
The woman, who cannot be identified, is an epileptic and takes anti-seizure medication.
She drank some alcoholic beverages and snorted seven or eight lines of cocaine, court heard.
She collapsed in a bar chair and was motionless for 10 minutes. Carrasco texted MacMillan that she appears, “dead, dead, dead.” MacMillan responded Carrasco should put her into a cab and join him at another bar where there were “plenty of fish.”
Carrasco stayed with the victim who staggered to the bar and consumed cocaine. She was involved in sex acts with both men spanning hours.
Carrasco will be back in court on Dec. 12 for a bail hearing. Sentencing is scheduled on Jan. 29, 2020.
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