Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

A 38-year-old man has been cleared of allegations he sexually assaulted a teenaged girl enrolled in the same University of Manitoba amateur wrestling camp.
Terry Nixon denied any wrongdoing at the start of his Queen’s Bench trial Monday – and when he took the witness stand this morning.
Justice Nathan Nurgitz then ruled this afternoon he believed Nixon’s story and said there wasn’t proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty.
The alleged victim, a former wrestling prodigy, told court she was repeatedly molested and harassed by Nixon while both were training at the U of M in 2001 and 2002.
The girl, who was just 15 at the time, claims the reason she waited until 2004 before going to police was because she was threatened by both her alleged attacker, Terry Nixon, and Nat Brigante, the executive director of amateur wrestling’s governing body and coach of the Bisons wrestling team.
Brigante was called today to testify for the defence and said the teen was lying. He said the girl implied Nixon had made her uncomfortable but never revealed any details.
Brigante said he would have “killed” Nixon and immediately went to police if the girl had claimed she was sexually assaulted.
“He told me to keep my mouth shut,” the young woman said under oath about her conversation with Brigante at a January 2003 tournament in Thunder Bay, Ont.
She also testified during her preliminary hearing that Brigante said they would lose the wrestling program at U of M because of her and that she would be banned from any further travel if she talked to police.
Both the young woman and Nixon were athletes in the U of M wrestling club who trained with members of the Bisons wrestling team and competed in events organized by the Manitoba Freestyle Wrestling Association.
The alleged victim claimed Nixon attacked her on two occasions. The first happened in a stairwell at the U of M when Nixon allegedly dropped his pants and ordered her to perform fellatio. She refused and fled.
“He told me if I didn’t he was going to spread rumours about me, saying that I was sleeping with my teammates, basically make me look like a slut,” she said.
The woman testified that on a separate occasion Nixon tried to kiss her and then fondled her breasts after driving her to his home. “He told me he had wanted me for so long,” she said.
The woman said she was initially scared to tell coaches or administrators, fearing they wouldn’t believe her. She said Brigante was especially close with Nixon, who had been enrolled in the wrestling program much longer than her.
“I thought that if he were to pick sides, he would take Terry’s side,” she said. “I didn’t want to tell them because of guilt and shame.”
Instead, she began warning other young wrestlers to stay away from Nixon, saying he was a “pervert.”