The fate of a Kelowna equestrian coach is in the hands of a jury as submissions in the trial for sexual touching, sexual assault, and child luring came to a close on June 29.
Sebastien Devrainne, originally from France, has spent the past week sitting in a Kelowna, B.C. Supreme Court for alleged crimes against a former student dating back more than a decade.
Defence lawyers argued that there has been no evidence to prove that a sexual relationship of any kind took place between Devrainne and the student while she was underage, telling Justice Chan and the jury that the texts and social media messages shown as evidence by Crown were communications with the student after she had turned 18.
Crown counsel, however, told the jury that through “human experience, common sense, and the witness’ testimony on the stand, we can figure out what these messages mean.”
The student’s identity is protected by a publication ban.
Messages between Devrainne and the former student from 2023, after the student had become a legal adult, were shown to the court.
Devrainne sent a message to the victim stating she shouldn’t be surprised to hear about kids losing their virginity at 14 or 15 years old. The witness responded saying she was 17 when she l had sex for the first time. Crown alleged that the following message from Devrainne was a “confident correction” to thinking the victim was referring to a sexual interaction between him and the victim, responding, “You were 16” with a winking emoji.
Crown told the jury that it wasn’t a question, a suggestion, or a request for clarification, but rather that Devrainne was stating a fact that he had a sexual encounter with the former student when she was still 16. Crown added that the victim’s response of “Nope, I was 17” supports this argument.
The messages continued, and Devrainne wrote, “We didn’t do anything. We started joking about sex.” The victim texted a reply, “Ten years ago, eh? That’s wild.”
Another piece of text highlighted by the Crown was Devrainne texting the former student later in the same conversation, “Don’t go screenshot that now.”
Crown counsel argued that if Devrainne hadn’t done anything wrong, “Why would he be worried about her sharing a message around that talks about them having some good times 10 years ago? And more importantly, why would he be worried that in April 2023, long before their relationship was experiencing any problems?”
A picture of the student at a competition was also addressed in messages sent between the two. In testimony, the witness told the court she was confident that her age in the photo was between 15 and 17 based on the jump heights appearing in the photo and the division she was competing in during those years.
Crown reminded the jury that when cross-examined, Devrainne was asked if he thought the witness, when she was a teenager, was cute in a sexual way. Devrainne replied, “I didn’t say that.” Crown noted this was inconsistent with evidence found in further messages. Devrainne commented about the photo in messages to the witness with a tongue out emoji, followed by, “My God, you were cute.”
Through the week long trial, it was also alleged that sexually explicit images were sent by Devrainne of himself to the former student while she was under the age of 18 and he would pull out the front of her top or waist of her pants to check her underwear.
The jury is moving forward with deliberations.
Devrainne was arrested for the crimes in November 2023, however, his identity was not made public until March 2024. Devrainne has a court ordered ban on communications with anyone under the age of 18 and has not coached since his arrest.