Motel employee found guilty of sex assault after tricking guest into thinking he was someone else

A Calgary hotel employee has been convicted of sexual assault after a judge found that although the victim consented to sex, she believed she had arranged an encounter with a different man.

Although Jatinder Brar testified at his trial last month that he had consensual sex with a motel guest, the accused "had to know the complainant believed him to be someone else, " Court of Queen's Bench Justice Robert Hall said in Calgary on Wednesday.

Brar, 28, was working as a night clerk at Canada's Best Value Inn Chinook Station when he found the woman's phone number at the motel's front desk in October 2017. 

During his judge-only trial, Brar testified that he looked the woman up on Facebook and was attracted to her.

The two began text messaging back and forth with what Hall described as "sexual banter" where both parties described their fantasies. 

• Calgary motel employee accused of sexually assaulting guest by posing as chat friend

Brar outlined a fantasy in which he suggested the woman unlock her door, invite him over, blindfold herself and have sex with her mystery guest.

"His wording in the texts was much more graphic," said Hall.

After the woman asked a number of times whom she was texting with, Brar finally responded, "I am Jay."

Hall found that the woman — whose identity is protected by a publication ban — believed she was messaging with her friend Jay S. 

The woman asked him questions like, "I thought you lived in Airdrie?" and "Why are you in Calgary today?" 

She also asked whether Jay was attending a tattoo convention, "all of which would alert Mr. Brar that she thought he was someone else," said Hall.

Brar kept his identity secret

By the early morning of Oct. 12, 2017, Brar had convinced the woman to invite him into her room, leaving the door jammed open for him to enter.

The two had sex and the woman testified that she felt confused and was "trying to figure out what was happening." 

Many of Brar's texts involved telling the woman to blindfold herself, not speak and have sex from behind — all so he could, as the judge said, "keep his identity a secret."

"She consensually engaged in sex with who she understood to be her friend Jay," said Hall. "She did not consent to the sex performed or participated in by Mr. Brar."

When police interviewed Brar, he initially denied having sex with the hotel guest and didn't admit to the encounter until being presented with video surveillance showing him entering her room.

While in police custody, Brar wrote his victim a letter of apology saying he felt shameful and guilty.

Brar is now out on bail.

Hall will hear sentencing submissions from prosecutor Pam McCluskey and defence lawyer Allan Fay later this year.