MONTREAL – In what could be the harbinger of the Kobe Bryant case, a teenage girl who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a radio host told his trial Wednesday she lied to police under oath.
Defence lawyer Jacques Larochelle asked the girl if it were true she offered two different versions of what happened the night she claims Robert Gillet sexually assaulted her in a Quebec City hotel room in 2002. Earlier this week, the teen, who was 15 at the time of the alleged assault, told jurors she phoned Gillet and that he took her to the room where he made her perform sexual acts against her will. But phone company logs don’t indicate any call between the two. Last summer she told police in a sworn statement there was no call and one of her clients brought her to Gillet’s hotel room.
On Wednesday, she said that wasn’t true and that Gillet wasn’t in the hotel room. She said she has trouble keeping her memory straight.
The girl asked for a recess on Wednesday, marking the third time in two days she had left the witness stand.
She told Quebec Superior Court Justice Fraser Martin she did not like the tone of Larochelle’s voice. She returned 10 minutes later.
Gillet, who has been suspended from his duties, is charged with obtaining sexual services from two teenage girls and sexually assaulting one of them.
His jury trial is taking place in Montreal because of publicity in Quebec City that surrounded the case.
In December 2002, police busted an alleged teen prostitution ring and charged several well-known people, including Gillet. More than 40 alleged clients and pimps have been arrested in the case.