The trial of a former Snowbirds pilot accused of sexual assault continued Friday at the Barrie courthouse with his defence suggesting his accuser had planned "minor sexual assault" allegations in order to profit financially.
Maj. Steven Hurlbut, 48, who flew with the Canadian Forces aerobatic team, is alleged to have assaulted a female member of the military on June 8, 2023, in the days leading up to the Barrie Airshow. The air show was held over Kempenfelt Bay on the weekend of June 10-11 as part of a cross-country tour.
Hurlbut, originally from Calgary, joined the Snowbirds team in 2021. He's a veteran fighter pilot, having flown combat missions in Iraq and Syria.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and a publication ban protects the identity of the alleged victim.
The woman was on the stand Friday, marking the second day of the trial, where she faced questions from Hurlbut’s defence lawyer.
In the previous court session on Oct. 1, the woman claimed Hurlbut invited her to come back to his Barrie hotel room, as the flight team and its crews stayed at a Fairview Road hotel.
After arriving in his room to watch The Simpsons on TV, she testified Hurlbut was sitting on his bed, while she sat on an ottoman in front of a chair.
Hurlbut is claimed to have asked her, “so you wanna?” She says she replied, “no."
She claims Hurlbut then walked over to her, sat in the chair behind her, put his arms around her and pulled her against him as he began rubbing her belly.
With her left arm above her head and her other arm wedged along her body, she said Hurlbut again asked “so you wanna?” to which she said she again declined.
When she turned her head to look up at him, Hurlbut is alleged to have kissed her on her mouth using his tongue.
After he allegedly kissed her again, she started walking to the hotel room's door to leave, when Hurlbut “grabs her tight” and “aggressively” pulls her into him, court heard.
She claimed he kissed her again and puts his tongue in her mouth, before moving it into her right ear.
She testified she couldn’t move. She said she was in “absolute terror” and that “time took forever.”
On Friday, the defence reviewed each of the allegations with the woman, and asked her if she flirted with Hurlbut, to which she answered “no.”
“Once you cross the line, you are over it. He crossed the line and stayed there,” she testified of Hurlbut’s actions in the hotel room.
Hulbut’s lawyer challenged the woman about her ability to accurately remember the alleged events for most of the day.
The woman described suffering mental decline, and she felt the Snowbird team was “exploiting her” as she was “overworked.”
The woman’s wife at the time was also a member of the military.
Hurlbut’s lawyer suggested to the woman that she and her wife were both frustrated with the military in regard to the wife’s career advancement opportunities.
The lawyer suggested the woman knew Hurlbut could use his influence to help her advance her wife’s career.
“Not correct,” the woman answered.
The alleged victim then outlined how the military selection process works, and said Hurlbut “had no pull.”
The lawyer pressed the woman, suggesting she knew a sexual assault charge would hurt him and become a national news story, and in doing so, her allegations amounted to “revenge” against the Snowbirds team.
The woman quickly brushed it off, disagreeing with the lawyer’s accusation, and said she didn’t want the military to issue any public statement.
“I wanted my privacy," she added.
The lawyer asked the woman, “in making an allegation of sexual assault against Mr. Hurlbut, does that not qualify you for compensation through Veterans Affairs?"
“I don’t know, I have not applied,” she answered.
The lawyer then countered by saying, “I’m going to suggest the minimum payment that you can receive from Veterans Affairs, if Mr. Hurlbut is convicted of sexually assaulting you, the minimum payment is $100,000. Do you know?”
The woman answered “I don’t know,” adding she has not received any sort of compensation from the government.
The lawyer then accused the woman of potentially committing fraud.
“I’m going to suggest to you, ma’am, that your plan was to allege a minor sexual assault against Mr. Hurlbut, that you would be eligible for money from Veterans Affairs."
She denied the allegation.
The woman said she has been off work since 2023, and had “returned briefly until I was bullied out of it.”
The defence lawyer also suggested to the woman that when she made the allegations against Hurlbut in June 2023, "you were aware that your allegations could lead to you being put on a full-time military pension for the rest of your life.”
“I am not aware,” she answered.
The lawyer switched gears and suggested the woman had been flirting with Hurlbut prior to the incident in the hotel room.
“You are misinterpreting,” she stated flatly. “I did not flirt with him.”
After continued questioning by the lawyer surrounding her memory of the events as to what took place and to when “lines were crossed,” the woman said “this line was crossed because he was abusing his military rank,” she said of Hurlbut.
“So, it does not matter if my mind was having a hard time processing when the line was crossed … It was crossed," she added. "He abused his authority and the trust in his rank … His role in the military is to look after the lower ranks and our well-being."
With that, the defence ended its cross-examination.
The trial is scheduled to resume Jan. 6 at the Barrie courthouse.
