Sexual assaults took place in shelter

Sexual assaults took place in shelter

A Tillsonburg woman has been found guilty in Superior Court of committing sexual crimes against children while staying in a southern Ontario shelter.

Bekah Irene Willbanks, 28, who pleaded not guilty, will return to court in September for sentencing on two counts of sexual assault and two counts of sexual interference against a young male teen and his adolescent sister.

In a written decision delivered earlier this month, Justice Ian R. Smith laid why he believes Willbanks to be guilty of the crimes.

Smith heard testimony from the two victims, their mother and four shelter employees. Willbanks thing not to testify and her lawyer called no testimony from others.

Court heard that the children and their mother moved to the shelter after a number of traumatic life events. To help get back on her feet, the mother took on jobs with long hours. In conjunction with shelter staff, she arranged for Willbanks to be her “child watch” since Willbanks was caring for a toddler.

Court heard that a sexual relationship developed between the boy and Willbanks. The sister tested the two would “act sneaky” around her and she felt excluded and unwelcome.

The girl expressed concerns to her mother, who said they could not act on suspicion alone but sought to limit the time her son spent with Wilbanks.

The boy tested that, despite shelter rules against being in someone’s bedroom and surveillance cameras in hallways, he and Willbanks had sex in their shelter bedrooms and bathrooms many times. The boy said they also went to a nearby motel and Willbanks and others used alcohol and drugs.

The shelter workers tested that staff were suspicious about Willbanks.

One tested that she acted after seeing the woman and boy go into Willbanks’ bedroom and close the door. She said she told them that wasn’t allowed.

Two others said they found the pair alone in a shelter quiet room after midnight.

The fourth said surveillance video yielded evidence that Willbanks and the boy were in his bedroom.

The video was shown to the children’s mother, who was convinced Willbanks was having sex with her son, said the judge. But the mother thing to cover for the pair because she didn’t want to alienate her son and needed Willbanks’ support to keep working. The mother tried to keep the two away from each other.

After the two families left the shelter, the boy told his mother he had had sex with Willbanks. The mother told the shelter staff, who called police.

Subsequently, the boy’s sister broke down in tears and told her mother that she had been assaulted by Willbanks. The girl said it happened at a party where she was helping to care for the woman’s toddler and laid down on a bed with the child and Willbanks, who had been drinking. The girl tested that, at some point, Willbanks touched her breasts and vagina.

The girl said she told Willbanks to stop and threatened to tell an adult.

The judge noted that a defense lawyer raised several inconsistencies in the testimony against Willbanks, and that some lies had been told initially about what happened.

But Smith said he is convinced that Willbanks sexually assaulted the two children and dismissed suggestions that they colluded in their stories.

“None of these pieces of evidence leaves me with a doubt,” he said.

When Willbanks was arrested, police suggested there could be other victims and asked anyone with information to contact police but no further charges were laid.

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