Former Snowbirds pilot Maj. Steve Hurlbut took the stand in his sexual-assault trial at the Barrie courthouse on Monday and denied he used the ruse of trying to help a junior military colleague to obtain sexual favours on the evening of June 8, 2023.
“I touched her left shoulder with my right hand,” testified Hurlbut while explaining his actions that took place in his local hotel room that spring evening.
“I was trying to spark conversation,” Hurlbut added, saying he was concerned about the complainant’s state of mind regarding various issues among the Snowbirds aerobatic team.
Hurlbut, 49, is a married father of two who now lives in Cold Lake, Alta., but was 47 and based in Moose Jaw, Sask., at the time of the incident.
A pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force for 31 years, Hurlbut has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the alleged victim. The woman testified over two separate days in October and was not in court on Monday.
Hurlbut told the court of a long day that started with the rest of the Snowbirds team – 11 pilots and another officer who didn’t have his wings – doing an early morning fly-over at the Canadian Open that was held at Oakdale Country Club in north Toronto, not far from Yorkdale Mall.
Court heard the team flew back to the Barrie area, landed, debriefed and then headed back to Oakdale by bus to watch the PGA Tour event, which had teed off soon after the Snowbirds' flyover.
The alleged victim filed her complaint four days later.
After a few hours on-site at Oakdale, which included Hurlbut drinking four beers, he testified he and the rest of the Snowbirds contingent headed back to Barrie, where they were staying at the Allure Hotel, which is the old Holiday Inn, on Fairview Road.
The Barrie Airshow was slated for that weekend and the Snowbirds had about a day to prepare. The alleged victim, a technician who did not travel with the Snowbirds in 2023 like she had a year previous, was in town for an audit, court heard.
Hurlbut told the court he texted the woman to meet up in Spyn, the hotel's bar. Hurlbut said his motives were entirely innocent, a mixture of personal and professional, and wanting to help a colleague through difficulty at work.
“She had issues with leadership (and) seemed tired and anxious,” Hurlbut testified in response to a question from his defence lawyer, Karl Toews. “She was tired and overworked (and) very unhappy."
More drinks followed in Spyn, Hurlbut testified, until he invited her back to his room. She declined, according to Hurlbut, because it was “the wrong time of the month,” a sexual innuendo that he said he didn’t take seriously and was in line with her crude sense of humour that most of the Snowbirds team was familiar with.
Hurlbut testified she later reached out to him and inquired about meeting up in his room. According to Hurlbut’s evidence, her text came after she had spent time in the hotel’s hot tub.
“She arrived immediately,” Hurlbut testified. “(But) she was about the same as when we were in the bar; she didn’t say anything.”
The icy atmosphere due to stress at work continued. To help assuage her anxiety, Hurlbut testified he changed the channel from Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final to The Simpsons.
Soon after, he said he positioned himself behind her on a chair in his room, where she had been sitting on an ottoman. It was then he touched her.
“She said, ‘You’re married,'” Hurlbut testified.
“I was caught off guard. In hindsight, I should have ended the conversation,” the pilot added, saying he eventually hugged her and walked her out of his room.
The woman testified in October that the encounter was much more sinister. She told court during her testimony, and maintained it while being cross-examined by Toews, that Hurlbut forced himself on her and then stuck his tongue crudely in her ear.
On the stand, Toews walked his client through each one of the critical elements of the alleged assault according to the complainant’s testimony.
“Did you kiss her at all?” asked Toews.
“No,” Hurlbut firmly replied.
“Did you press your body against hers?” asked Toews.
“No,” replied Hurlbut.
More denials followed, including one where Hurlbut said emphatically that he did not place his tongue in the woman’s ear, nor did he directly proposition her, according to her earlier testimony.
“That did not happen,” Hurlbut said from the stand.
On cross-examination, Crown attorney Hanieh Azimi pressed Hurlbut on numerous points of his evidence, not least of which was his motive for inviting a junior colleague back to his hotel room, which Hurlbut conceded was inappropriate.
“The image looks bad,” Hurlbut testified of the two being together alone in a hotel room, but he repeated that “nothing sexual happened.”
Hurlbut was on the stand for about 90 minutes, completing his evidence and cross-examination before court broke for the day.
The proceedings before Ontario Court of Madame Justice Jodie-Lynn Waddilove will resume on Feb. 24 at the Barrie courthouse, when the defence is expected to call more witnesses.
In her last order of business before closing, Waddilove granted Hurlbut the option of attending the next month's proceedings via video link.
