Accused sailor testifies sex on Canadian destroyer was consensual
HALIFAX — A Halifax sailor accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate testified Friday that the sex was consensual, as he took the stand in his own defence at his court martial.
Master Seaman Daniel Cooper testified in a Halifax military court that he had asked the leading seaman — who was an ordinary seaman at the time of the alleged incident — if he wanted to become intimate, and that he agreed.
“As far as I could tell … he was receptive to what I was proposing,” said Cooper, who is accused of a sexual assaulting the subordinate aboard HMCS Athabaskan while the destroyer was visiting Spain as part of a NATO exercise on Nov. 9, 2015.
Cooper told Military Judge Cmdr. Sandra Sukstorf that the men had been drinking at a hotel and restaurant in Rota, Spain, and later had more drinks in the ship’s cafeteria.