WARNING: THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
William Robert Kirby, also known as Bill Kirby, took the stand today (October 29th) at the Pembroke courthouse. This is one of two trials the 74-year-old will have over the next couple of months. Kirby was arrested back in September of 2018 and now faces a long list of charges. Earlier this year (January 2020), a judge ruled to have two trials separating the 2018 attempted murder incident and historic sexual assault charges.
This morning a doctor of one of the victims took the stand and testified that back in 1993, a patient reported being physically abused, raped several times and was having phone calls monitored.
Kirby who was a Bell Canada employee for 30-years admitted he was able to record incoming and outgoing calls, but says that did not start until 1997. When questioned about recording phone calls Kirby says it was to catch someone selling marijuana.
The defendant is a well known individual from the Arnprior area. Kirby was a referee, one of the founding members of the Arnprior Civitan Club, a member of the Optimist Club, the Lions Club and on the local community policing board.
At times Kirby became frustrated and agitated on the stand while being questioned about his past. Kirby admitted that he has a temper and a short fuse and when the Crown Attorney asked if he used force to get victims to stop talking he accused them of “putting words in his mouth” or “telling him what he is or isn’t”.
The trial this week has the 74-year-old facing charges of indecent assault, common assault, sexual assault, two counts of assault and weapon at a public meeting. Kirby denied allegations of forced anal sex and rape. When asked about dragging a victim by the feet to the bathroom and trying to force their head into the toilet Kirby said they were drunk and throwing up.
Kirby was also questioned about an incident where there was no prior discussions about sexual relations and he placed his hand on the hip and grabbed the breast of a victim. Kirby responded with “it wasn’t a grab, it was a caress”.
Another incident sees Kirby push a victim backwards into a set of stairs. Kirby says he was pushed down four steps, but admitted to not seeing anyone do it and retaliated even though the victim was not threatening him at the time. Kirby went on to say he could have waited to kick them back, but instead pushed the victim.
Kirby was asked about pointing a firearm and denied those allegations. Kirby described in detail the single barrel, wooden handled, break action Ranger shotgun he owned at the time, but says it was locked up in a case on the wall.
When asked about showing children naked body parts of himself and other adults, Kirby denied those allegations. Kirby said this week was the first time he heard those accusations, despite one of the victims testifying to those matters at the preliminary trial in July of 2019.
Submissions and closing statements will be made tomorrow (October 30th) with the judge expected to come back with a decision the first week of December.
The second trial regarding the 2018 attempted murder will start on January 4th, 2021 and is expected to last two weeks.
Some of the court information is under a publication ban to protect the identity of the victims
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