'I disagree,' ex-Woodstock mayor Trevor Birtch repeatedly tells Crown during grilling at sex assault trial

WARNING: This story references allegations of sexual assault and contains graphic content.

The second sexual assault trial for former Woodstock, Ont., mayor Trevor Birtch resumed Friday with the 49-year-old being cross-examined by Crown attorney Jennifer Moser. 

Birtch, who was convicted of sexual assault in a separate trial last month, faces three counts of sexual assault in this judge-only trial, which started in early September in London. 

Birtch has pleaded not guilty to all three accusations, which involve the same woman.

The woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, testified earlier in the trial. 

Much of Friday's testimony focused on digital audio files Birtch sent to a friend. In them, he brags about tying up and spitting on a woman during what he describes as "an attic torture scenario." 

Birtch has testified those messages were his response to a friend's request for him to submit made-up and embellished stories, sexual in nature, that she would compile into a book for a Christmas present. 

However, in her questioning, Moser suggested the messages were truthful accounts of Birtch assaulting a woman who cannot be named due to a court order.  

She pointed out that in one of the messages, Birtch talks about how his son overheard the incident in the attic and later questioned him about the source of the noises and screams he heard. 

"Why would you mention your son's name in a made-up story? It's clear that you were just relaying something that actually happened to you," said Moser. "That this was not creative writing or make believe."

Birtch's response was, "I disagree."

Moser asked Birtch that if the audio files were sent in response to a friend's request, why that request was never mentioned in the text exchange the two shared on Dec. 18, 2021, and read in court. Bitch said the request was made via phone calls, not in texts.

"It's not mentioned once," said Moser, referring to the request for explicit stories. "This phone call is not referenced in any of the messages, because it never happened. 

"It happened," said Birtch.