'I’m a survivor': Witness tells jury of escape plan at sexual assault trial

A London, Ont. jury heard evidence on Tuesday of how the children involved in a case of sexual abuse eventually fled their home and contacted police.

The witness — who cannot be identified — has been on the stand testifying for one week. Under cross-examination from the defence, the child who is now an adult continued with the disturbing narrative.

”My mother is a psycho, my father is a psycho, you’d have to know them, you’d have to see what happened in my childhood,” she said.

Talking about their upbringing the witness continued, “I’m a scared child with an abuser in the house…I’m a survivor.”

The court heard that the Children’s Aid Society would eventually get involved and the parents were aware of it.

”I was forced to protect our father, he was still abusing us…that’s why we left in the middle of the night,” she testified.

The siblings would ultimately contact the police.

“They asked me if I wanted to come with them and I said, ‘Yes I would,’” she said.

The parents, who are both in their fifties, face a total of 47 charges including sexual assault with a weapon, incest, forcible confinement and failing to provide the necessaries of life.

The incidents are alleged to have taken place between 2003 and 2020.

The accused have both pleaded not guilty.

The first two witnesses at the trial have both described years of sexual and physical abuse at the hands of their mother and father.

When asked by the defence why the witness didn’t initially tell the authorities about the full extent of the events described during testimony, the witness said, “I wasn’t comfortable talking about everything that happened to me.”

The trial is now into its fourth week.