'I felt trapped,' says complainant in Michael Thompson sex assault trial

WARNING: This article contains graphic descriptions of an alleged sexual assault. 

A woman accusing Toronto city councillor Michael Thompson of sexual assault laid out in graphic detail on Friday how Thompson allegedly forced himself on her after a day of heavy drinking.  

Thompson, an active Scarborough councillor and former deputy mayor, is facing two counts of sexual assault for alleged incidents between him and two separate women at a Muskoka cottage over the Canada Day weekend in 2022. 

He has pleaded not guilty to both charges. 

Testifying on Friday in a Bracebridge, Ont., courtroom, the 43-year-old complainant said she was invited to the cottage by her friend, who is the other complainant in this case, and had not met Thompson prior to that weekend. 

She said she expected a larger group, but that when they arrived, only Thompson and another young woman were present. The drinking began right away with shots poured by Thompson, who allegedly told the group that "what happens in Muskoka stays in Muskoka," she said.

She said she and the other two women spent about eight hours drinking at the cottage that afternoon and evening, that she was drunk by nightfall and that she doesn't remember going to bed. 

'I don't want to do this,' complainant testifies she said

The complainant told court her memory was clearer on what happened next: she alleged that at some point in the night, Thompson woke her while she was sleeping and took her to a downstairs bedroom.

There, she says, he was "definitely trying to engage in something sexual," standing close to her and touching her.

"I said to him, 'I don't want to do this,'" she said, adding she told him she worried about becoming pregnant in an effort to deter him. 

WATCH | How the Thompson trial began: 

Sexual assault trial of Toronto councillor Michael Thompson begins

5 months ago

Duration 2:32

WARNING: This video may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. The sexual assault trial of Scarborough councillor Michael Thompson began in cottage country on Monday. CBC’s Lane Harrison has the details.

The complainant says she laid down on the bed, still feeling the effects of the alcohol she'd consumed, at which point she says Thompson put his penis around her face and mouth and later ejaculated on her face and chest. 

"At that moment I was scared. I just knew I couldn't do anything," she told the courtroom, repeating that she had not wanted any sexual contact with Thompson. "I felt trapped." 

Defence lawyer lays out alternative

On Friday afternoon, the complainant was cross-examined by Thompson's defence lawyer, Leora Shemesh, who laid out a very different version of events.

Shemesh suggested to the complainant that she was the one who had woken Thompson, suggesting that they go to the kitchen and have a drink. Shemesh suggested the two then began kissing and hugging before making their way to the downstairs bedroom, where she gave Thompson oral sex. 

The complainant told the court that those things didn't happen. 

In December, court also heard details from the other complainant, who has alleged Thompson touched her inappropriately under her bathing suit while applying sunscreen to her.