Former restaurant owner found guilty of sexual assault

Harold Cruz Jojo Villaresis was found guilty of one count of sexual assault on Aug. 19 in the Provincial Court of British Columbia.

In a judgment posted online this week, Judge D.M. McKimm laid out his reasons for finding Villaresis guilty of the assault that took place on May 13, 2018.

The complainant testified that before heading out to celebrate a friend’s birthday she drank a number of alcoholic beverages and then decided to smuggle a mickey of vodka into the nightclub to lessen the cost of the evening.

At the night club the complainant drank a few more drinks with three ounces in them each, adding alcohol from the mickey throughout the night, splitting it equally with a friend.

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The friend then became ill in the washroom and was escorted out of the premises. The complainant stayed at the nightclub and socialized with other people she had met that evening. Later on she recognized Villaresis, as he owned a local restaurant called Mai Mai’s in Sooke — which has since been sold — and struck up a conversation with him. She had more drinks provided by Villaresis.

At closing time, Villaresis and the complainant decided to walk to Burger King to get chicken nuggets, then they got a cab to his apartment. Shortly after they arrived, she testified that she fell asleep and said that she could not remember what happened next. When she woke up her clothes were off and Villaresis was sexually assaulting her.

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Villaresis testified that upon arrival to his apartment, he asked the complainant if he could give her a massage and then proceeded. He then asked her how she was doing to which she replied “good.” He then testified that he left for five to six minutes to freshen up as he believed that he was going to have intercourse.

When he returned he began assaulting her for 20 to 30 second before she woke up and asked him what he was doing. She insisted he call her a cab.

The complainant then went to her boyfriends house and spent most of the night discussing what had happened and what to do next. Two days later the police were contacted.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 21.