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http://sympaticomsn.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060622/soldier_ptsd_060622
CTV.ca News Staff
A former Canadian soldier has been found not guilty of sexual assault because a court ruled he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a deployment in Bosnia 10 years earlier.
Roger Borsch, 34, was on trial on charges of confining and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl after breaking into her home in The Pas, Manitoba in 2004.
Borsch did not deny the Crown's allegation that the incident took place.
Instead, Borsch testified that he had no recollection of the incident ever having happened.
His lawyer argued that Borsch was traumatized by time he spent with the Canadian Forces serving in Bosnia and was in a type of shock and did not know what he was doing.
Borsch was acquitted Thursday by Justice Nathan Nurgitz, who explained that expert witnesses testified Borsch exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder before the attack took place.
Though his court case has been dismissed, a psychiatric panel will review his case to determine whether treatment is necessary.
In an earlier appearance, Borsch told the Winnipeg court he has no memory of the alleged incident, and remembers nothing after leaving a party at another house earlier in the day.
"The next thing I remember, I woke up in the middle of a river in a canoe,'' Borsch testified.
"I looked around and tried to figure out where I was.''
His mother told the court Borsch came back from a six-month tour in Bosnia in 1994 depressed, withdrawn and often unable to sleep.
"He didn't smile, he didn't frown . . . he didn't seem to be interested in anything,'' Barbara Borsch said.
"He was just a totally different man.''
After returning from Bosnia, Borsch moved between Calgary, Edmonton and The Pas, where he eventually landed a job as a jail guard.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is likely to see close to 20,000 new cases of post-combat stress this year among soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a report in Knight Ridder Newspapers.
The department had anticipated seeing only 2,900 new cases in the 2006 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006.
The illness has been cited as a cause of drug addiction and homelessness, among other social problems.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTV.ca News Staff
A former Canadian soldier has been found not guilty of sexual assault because a court ruled he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a deployment in Bosnia 10 years earlier.
Roger Borsch, 34, was on trial on charges of confining and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl after breaking into her home in The Pas, Manitoba in 2004.
Borsch did not deny the Crown's allegation that the incident took place.
Instead, Borsch testified that he had no recollection of the incident ever having happened.
His lawyer argued that Borsch was traumatized by time he spent with the Canadian Forces serving in Bosnia and was in a type of shock and did not know what he was doing.
Borsch was acquitted Thursday by Justice Nathan Nurgitz, who explained that expert witnesses testified Borsch exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder before the attack took place.
Though his court case has been dismissed, a psychiatric panel will review his case to determine whether treatment is necessary.
In an earlier appearance, Borsch told the Winnipeg court he has no memory of the alleged incident, and remembers nothing after leaving a party at another house earlier in the day.
"The next thing I remember, I woke up in the middle of a river in a canoe,'' Borsch testified.
"I looked around and tried to figure out where I was.''
His mother told the court Borsch came back from a six-month tour in Bosnia in 1994 depressed, withdrawn and often unable to sleep.
"He didn't smile, he didn't frown . . . he didn't seem to be interested in anything,'' Barbara Borsch said.
"He was just a totally different man.''
After returning from Bosnia, Borsch moved between Calgary, Edmonton and The Pas, where he eventually landed a job as a jail guard.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is likely to see close to 20,000 new cases of post-combat stress this year among soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a report in Knight Ridder Newspapers.
The department had anticipated seeing only 2,900 new cases in the 2006 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006.
The illness has been cited as a cause of drug addiction and homelessness, among other social problems.
With files from The Canadian Press
