T.O. pastor takes stand at N.S. trial, denies sex allegations

KENTVILLE, N.S. — Toronto pastor Brent Hawkes says no sexual activity took place in his home on the day he is accused of gross indecency on a 16-year-old male.
Hawkes took the stand at his trial Thursday in Kentville, N.S.
On Tuesday, a man testified that Hawkes led him down a hallway naked during a drunken get-together at his Nova Scotia trailer in the mid-1970s and performed sex acts on him in a bedroom.
Hawkes, then a teacher in his mid-20s in the Annapolis Valley, said Thursday that students and teachers often came by his trailer, especially around that time to say goodbye because he was moving to Toronto.
“I think it would be accurate to say I was a pretty popular teacher,” he testified.
Hawkes testified that he was not open about his homosexuality at the time, saying he would likely have been fired if he had been. He decided to quit teaching after three years because he wanted to be part of a church that accepted gay people.
He said students often attended parties with teachers. But he denied serving students alcohol on the day in question, and said there was no sexual activity at his trailer.
“I do not recall… walking (the complainant) down the hallway,” he said.
The high-profile rights activist has pleaded not guilty to indecent assault and gross indecency.
Earlier, Hawkes’ lawyer, Clayton Ruby, suggested the complainant reconstructed some memories surrounding the alleged sex offences, rather than recalled true memories. He noted a judge in a separate civil case involving the complainant found he had reconstructed his actions during testimony in that case, rather than recalled them from direct memory.

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