WARNING: The details of this story are deeply troubling and may be distressing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.
A BC Supreme Court jury has found a CFB Esquimalt worker guilty of a sexual assault which occurred October 2022.
Hayden Chokrev-Evans is a 23-year-old man originally from Ontario. He worked for the Canadian Armed Forces in Halifax before requesting transfer to Vancouver Island at CFB Esquimalt where he worked as a Marine Technician Engineering Roundsperson.
According to court documents, the assault perpetrated by Chokrev-Evans was a matter of non-consent and credibility.
For the purposes of this article, Chokrev-Evans’ victim will be referred to as Christina.
Christina came forward to the authorities saying that back in 2022, she was violently sexually assaulted by Chokrev-Evans as well as choked, strangled, suffocated, hit, called a “bitch”, a “whore” and a “slut”.
During the assault, Christina says she feared for her life.
What happened
Christina told the court she matched with Chokrev-Evans on Tinder and they began to chat with one another online and via text messaging.
They met each other for the first time in Nanaimo on October 11th, 2022 where the jury decided Chokrev-Evans’ sole goal for the trip was to have sex with her.
After spending some time at a mall and a park Christina decided to go down to Victoria and spend a weekend with Chokrev-Evans.
Chokrev-Evans admitted in court he was purposely misleading Christina into believing that he wanted a long-term relationship with her when what he really wanted was “quick sex”.
Christina went to CFB Esquimalt on October 15th, 2022 and got to his dorm room around noon that day.
She says that after a few episodes on Netflix about the serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, Chokrev-Evans left her to go to the gym.
When he got back, without saying a word to her, he violently raped Christina while choking, beating and suffocating her.
After the violent assault, he showed her photos of naked women he claimed to have had sex with on his phone and she stayed the night out of fear for her life.
Christina left the next day, driving while crying back up-island to a friend’s house.
Following getting away from Chokrev-Evans, Christina received a message from him in which he told her he had shown a colleague her photo on his lunch break, stating to her, “It sucks u left my buddy wanted to hit it”.
Additionally, Chokrev-Evans sent her an article which referenced a woman being stabbed, strangled and killed by a Tinder date. She took this as a threat given the circumstances of their meeting.
He says he sent this because he thought it was funny.
Two days later, on October 17th, 2022, Christina returned to work with visible bruising showing through her concealer.
She says she was visibly crying at work and was convinced to go to the hospital where a rape kit was performed on her, and she reported what occurred to the police.
Impact on victim
Christina had the opportunity to read a victim impact statement at the hearing in which she explained how deeply traumatizing the sexual assault was.
She says she will never be the same person as she once was, having fallen into a depression, feeling isolated and feeling disgust anytime she looks in the mirror.
Christina also stopped eating, and began self-harming following the assault. She has needed regular counselling and medication to cope with what has happened to her.
The presiding judge, Justice Carla Forth said at the sentencing, “I hope that, with the sentencing of the offender today, [Christina] can continue on her path to recovery”.
“She is not responsible in any way for what Mr. Chokrev-Evans did to her. She deserved to be treated with respect and dignity,” she continued.
Offender’s attitude towards the assault
Chokrev-Evans maintained through the trial process that all sexual acts were consensual and that Christina never expressed she did not consent.
He claimed that his victim was bi-polar and implied she was making up what had happened in her head.
Chokrev-Evans also said that he had “no feelings” towards the sentencing and when asked what steps he has taken to ensure another assault will not occur in the future, he replied that “he will stop having sexual interactions with people that he is not attracted to”.
According to Chokrev-Evans he has never had any form of psychological counselling and doesn’t plan on seeking it out.
He says he has been in a six month relationship with a woman who he plans on residing with once released.
Sentence
Chokrev-Evans was sentenced to a total of three years and eight months in prison for his charges.
However, because he already technically served 138 days while remanded, his sentence will be a total of three years and 105 days.
Upon release he will have bodily and DNA samples taken as per the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, he will be unable to possess any type of weapon or firearm and he is never to come into contact with his victim again.
