Second trial against former Woodstock Mayor begins in London courtroom

Former mayor's sexual assault trial continues The second sexual assault trial for former Woodstock Mayor Trevor Birtch is underway, CTV London's Reta Ismail has the latest.

Woodstock’s disgraced former mayor Trevor Birtch walked inside the London courthouse Tuesday to face three new charges of sexual assault involving one woman whose identity is protected under a court order.

The three counts date back to August 2021, April 2022, and the third is for alleged acts between January 2017 and April 2022.

Assistant crown attorney Jennifer Moser said the allegations are of unwanted sexual intercourse

The court heard that Birtch will be testifying during the four-day judge-alone trial.

The first witness called up to the stand today was London Police Special Constable Kim Seward who works in the digital forensics unit.

Seward testified that she obtained a cell phone from an address in Woodstock, and using digital forensic tools, she extracted Facebook messenger texts and audio recordings between Birtch and a woman who is friends with the complainant.

That woman was the second witness, who testified via zoom today. She said she was an acquaintance of Trevor Birtch during his term as Mayor of Woodstock and provided police with message exchanges between the two of them - after becoming concerned.

"These messages were the last straw [she said] and they just made me so sick. I just couldn’t do it anymore. I originally thought the benefits outweighed what I was having to listen to.”

When asked by Assistant Crown Moser what benefits she was referring to, the woman said, "I did a lot of outreach work and it was helpful to have the mayor show up with you, have doors open and be able to help the community."

The trial is scheduled to resume Thursday, with defence lawyer James Battin set to cross examine the complainant’s friend who exchanged the text and audio messages with Birtch, in which Moser said that Birtch confesses to the sexual activity.

Last month, the 49 year old was found guilty on two separate charges of assault and sexual assault involving another woman. He will be sentenced for those charges on September 10.