A YouTuber accused of sexually assaulting a former McMaster student on video in 2020 took the stand in a Hamilton courtroom on Wednesday.
A central point in Wednesday’s cross examination was a video Densmore says he began to film before getting consent. This is the first of two sexual assault trials he faces but Densmore and his family seemed to be in good spirits on their way out of court.
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The YouTuber is known for posting videos with university students who appear to be intoxicated, his YouTube account has hundreds of thousands of followers.
On Wednesday, he told the court why he decided to record a video on the night he is accused of sexual assault.
He said, “to prevent this.”
The student who launched the complaint was not in court Wednesday, having testified earlier.
She said that when she matched with Densmore on Tinder, she knew who he was.
He then messaged her on Instagram and acknowledged in court that he reached out, initiated plans for a date, and followed up to make sure it happened.
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They agreed to a hike and then get drinks on Aug. 5, 2020. Neither panned out, instead they wound up watching Netflix on Densmore’s bed in his Hamilton mountain home.
When they kissed, it was consensual she said. She told the court, the touching that came after was too, until it wasn’t.
The complainant testified that Densmore forced her to give him oral sex and filmed her doing it without her consent, then forced her into vaginal sex.
But Densmore told the court it was all consensual, and when she objected to the video he deleted it in front of her.
During his testimony, Densmore said he was filming a consent video, following advice from musicians, athletes, and other people he’d met at the time. He says he didn’t ask her before hitting record and started filming without her knowledge. He added that his intent was to ask her on camera if she consents.
Densmore said quote “in the past when I would hook up with girls, in particular girls I didn’t know very well, if I had a weird feeling then I would record a consent video while we were having sex.”
“I pulled the phone out, started recording, but she moved her head back, which made me think she didn’t want to be recorded. So I stopped recording.”
Densmore said he thought it was appropriate.
“There were a lot of parties, a lot of women.”
Densmore denies that the complainant pushed him, or his hand away at any point in the night and that he was aggressive.
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Densmore’s trial will resume with closing arguments on Friday morning.