Kamloops jury hears case of sexual assault of fellow students – Kamloops News

A Kamloops woman will go on trial before a British Columbia Supreme Court jury this week on charges she sexually touched a fellow student at university more than a decade ago.

Bridgette Kowalewski, 33, is charged with sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2010. Kowalewski was known as Grant Kowalewski at the time of the alleged crime and has since adopted his sexual intercourse name.

Kowalewski and the plaintiff, who cannot be named due to a court injunction prohibiting the publication of information about him, were fellow students at Thompson Rivers University and were both part of a large group project in March 2010.

Jurors heard that after the project was completed, Kowalewski was invited to spend the night at the plaintiff's home. Jurors responded to cryptic notes Kowalewski had sent to friends and classmates days earlier, which the court described as suicide notes.

“I just wanted to make sure they made it through the night,” the 35-year-old plaintiff said in court.

“'I don't want you to be alone tonight. Do you want to lie down in my room?'”

Kowalewski is accused of reaching into the plaintiff's pants while she was sleeping and touching her genitals.

Under cross-examination, defense attorney Richard Fowler suggested that the pajama party actually took place a few months later.

Kowalewski and the plaintiff were together briefly before the incident.

The trial is expected to be completed this week.