A young Calgary woman says she understands why victims of sexual assault often don’t report it after a trial against her former boss was cut short.
Former Calgary bar owner Grant Lee Cichacki, 43, was charged in 2023 with sexual assault stemming from allegations he raped an 18-year-old employee.
On Tuesday, the second day of the trial, Crown prosecutor Tara Wells directed a stay of proceedings, prior to final arguments taking place.
The now 20-year-old woman who accused Cichacki of sexual assault can’t be identified due to a court-ordered publication ban.
She told CTV News she broke down in tears upon learning the charge had been stayed.
“I was so beyond upset and so beyond angry. When I was told the news, I left the courthouse in tears. I had a panic attack and was not doing well.
“I had to go home and he got to walk free.”
The woman testified Monday that she’d finished her shift at Watchman’s Pub on 17 Avenue S.W. in December 2022, one of four bars Cichacki owned at the time, and went to a social function with him at Cowboys Dance Hall.
She testified she lost her memory after he handed her a drink.
The woman said she woke up with him sexually assaulting her at his residence.
Cichacki testified in his own defense, saying he had offered to let the woman spend the night on the couch and said she initiated the sexual intimacy.
Cichacki also said the accusations had forced him to leave his position as co-owner at several establishments throughout the city, including Watchman’s Pub, Courtyard, Nixx Neighbourhood Pub and Loco Lou’s.
“I know myself that there’s absolutely no way that I had ever consented to that,” the woman told CTV News.
“At one point his defense lawyer had asked me how I’m so sure, but because I couldn’t remember, it was essentially a dismissed statement,” she said.
The woman says Cichacki’s smiled at her outside of court after the charge was dismissed.
“I absolutely started losing it. I started screaming at him, I started screaming at his friends that had come to testify on his behalf,” she said.
“It has been two years now of absolute torture for me. There has been so many issues that have occurred as a result from this. He ruined my life, and he took something away from me, and he made me feel less than what I am. and like he was in control.
“Two years of a lot of sadness, and a lot of anger pent up came out.”
The Crown’s decision to stay the charge in this week’s trial doesn’t come as a shock to Doug King, a justice studies professor at Mount Royal University.
“Tragically, I am not all that surprised, because it happens so frequency,” said King.
“All that the accused has to prove is that there is reasonable doubt of the mind of an ordinary person that maybe, maybe it didn’t happen.
“The burden of proof is extremely high.”
A stay means the charge is effectively withdrawn, though prosecutors have up to a year to revive it if new evidence comes to light, but King said that rarely happens.
“This information about this particular trial and case cannot be raised in any subsequent trial involving this defendant, but if he’s going to be using the same lawyer, the same lawyer is probably going to be using the same attempt to erode the credibility of the victim,” he said.
According to Statistics Canada, up to 60 percent of all charges related to sexual assault are either stayed or withdrawn by the Crown.
Danielle Aubry with Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse says there are still stigmas and misconceptions around sexual assaults and consent, which can often be reflected in the court room.
“We continue to see people get blamed for it, we continue to see people making judgements of what is a proper response of what people should have done,” said Aubry.
“Court is a reflection of our society, of how we deal with this issue, and so we continue, not every case, but we continue to see these come up within the court system.”
Aubry says cases like this one can have an impact on other sexual assault victims wanting to come forward.
“Looking at our low reporting rate, there is already a huge lack of trust that people have with the criminal justice system, a lack of trust or lack of faith something is going to happen that seems fair to people.
“We continue to have this problem, it’s complex,” she said.
The woman involved in Cichacki’s trial told CTV News she doesn’t regret coming forward, but says she has lost a lot of trust with the justice system.
“I do feel like the justice system failed me,” she said.
“With my experience from this trial, I fully understand why some women don’t speak up.
“I had to see him, I had to face him, I had to speak about what happened and I got nothing from it.
“I left in tears, sobbing the whole night. I felt really dismissed. I’m let down.”
Cichacki faces another trial next spring, after six women came forward following the initial charge, accusing him of sexual assault between 2006 and 2022.
CTV spoke to one of those, who also can’t be identified due to a publication ban.
She says she was “gutted” by the outcome of the initial trial.
“I’m scared actually. I feel like the justice system has failed her… they might fail me too, and all the rest of the girls.”
She says the outcome has made her reconsider being part of the trial due to the impact it has had on her mental health, but says she is determined to see it through.
“I can’t back down from this,” she said. “I’ve got to tell my story too. If I don’t, I’m letting down those other woman. They deserve justice. I deserve justice.”
Supports are available for victims of sexual assault, including Alberta’s One-Line for Sexual Violence: 1-866-403-8000, and a 24-hour crisis line: 1-877-237-5888.
