Jury finds Norton man not guilty in sex assault case

A jury in Saint John has found a 24-year-old Norton man not guilty of sexual assault in a case hinging on the issue of consent.

Connor Campbell was accused by a now 21-year-old woman after an incident in a home in Sussex in August 2017.

Showing no reaction when Justice Darrell Stephenson told him he was free to go, Campbell left the defendant's box and walked to the public gallery, where he sat down.

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The complainant was not in court to hear the verdict.

As with many sex assault investigations, there were no witnesses other than the accused and the complainant.

The context for this case was an earlier social media exchange between the two viaSnapchat, an app that does not archive the text conversations.

Campbell and the complainantgave the court sharply different versions of the Snapchat texts.

Accuser sent a picture

Campbell testified the womansupplied him with a nude picture of herself, invited him to the Sussex home where she was babysittingand gave him directions.

In the woman's version,the photograph showed her wrapped in a towel, and Campbellarrived uninvited, walking straight into the house without knocking.

Those differences, however, did not get at the issue of consent once the two were in the same room.

She said he kissed her uninvited, climbed on top of her, removed her shorts and underpants and began to have sex all against her wishes stopping only when she said for the third time that she did not want sex.

2 hours of deliberation

He told the court thekissing and foreplay were consensual, the two undressed themselves, and the sex stopped when she announced "I can't do this any longer."

The jury took just over two hours to reach its verdict.

Campbell made no comment when leaving the courthouse.

His lawyer, David Lutz, said the jury verdictwas "gratifying."

"There's always anxious moments, it affects people's lives," said Lutz. "It would affect a young woman and it would affect a fellow who would carry this on his record for the rest of his life."