Warning: This article contains allegations of sexual assault involving a minor. Anyone who is at risk of sexual violence or has experienced sexual violence can call the Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis 24-hour helpline at 1-800-265-7233.
GUELPH – A Puslinch man has pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross indecency and four counts of sexual assault in connection with multiple incidents between 1986 and 1991 involving two victims.
Charged in February of 2024, Brian Edward Cox also faced two counts of sexual intercourse with a female aged 14 to 16, but those charges were withdrawn at the request of Crown attorney Marilyn Dolby.
The 69-year-old’s trial began on March 12 in Guelph court before Justice Matthew Stanley.
The trial opened with testimony from Kristin Bax, who told the court Cox sexually assaulted her repeatedly when she was 15, 16 and 17 years old. She alleges the assaults happened in Puslinch, elsewhere in the region, and in Montreal.
Bax testified on March 12 and was cross-examined by Cox’s lawyer on March 13.
Two of the six charges against Cox involve another woman, who is expected to testify that Cox sexually assaulted her in Montreal between 1988 and 1991.
Cox’s lawyer said his client also plans to testify.
During her testimony, Bax described details of what she said was non-consensual sexual touching, oral sex and sexual intercourse with Cox, who is 16 years her senior, which began months before her 16th birthday.
During cross examination, Cox’s defence attorney Dean Paquette suggested Bax consented to the sexual acts and he tried to cast doubt on the accuracy of Bax’s timeline.
But Bax insisted she was not a willing participant.
“I did it because I had to. There would be consequences if I didn’t,” she testified.
Bax said she doesn’t remember how many times Cox sexually assaulted her, but testified it happened in his office, in vehicles, in the parking lot of his office, in the shop at his home in Puslinch, on a train and in multiple hotels.
Bax said the first time Cox raped her, she remembers, “Just wanting to be dead and it be over with.”
Paquette suggested Bax initiated the sexual touching and was “very sexually aggressive with Brian.”
He told Bax, “I’m suggesting you were fully participating, fulling consenting, and you got together any time you could.”
Bax told the court the first time Cox touched her sexually was shortly after she began working as a co-op student at his car dealership, BJ Auto Sales, when they went on a trip to Montreal for an auto auction.
Paquette expressed doubt the co-op placement ever existed, and suggested Bax did not go to Montreal with Cox until after she turned 16.
Bax said at the time she was living with her brother, who removed her from her parents’ home in late 1986 because he was concerned about her treatment there.
She said her brother and Cox told her that Cox was now her guardian, which “meant that everything I did, I had to … go through him. He was my boss, he was my father role.”
Bax told the court Cox impregnated her three times when she was 15, and brought her to a clinic in Toronto to terminate each of the pregnancies between November 1987 and the end of February 1988.
Bax turned 16 on Feb. 19, 1988.
Paquette suggested Cox was not responsible for at least one of the pregnancies and someone else took Bax to at least one of the abortions.
Paquette highlighted discrepancies between Bax’s testimony and a statement she made to police in 2023.
For example, there was an incident on a train that Bax initially told police involved sexual touching only and not intercourse. During the trial, Bax testified the incident involved sexual intercourse.
Bax said when she initially told police about Cox she didn’t provide all of the details because she did not expect to end up testifying about what happened with Cox.
“I went regarding other issues and it all tied in to me working with Brian and these issues happening with Brian,” she said.
Bax also noted many of her memories are blanked out due to the violence she experienced.
At one point, when Bax could not remember details of what she was wearing during a particular incident, Paquette said, “I suggest you are lying. You are withholding because it doesn’t support your story.”
Bax said “I am not withholding. I don’t remember.”
Paquette questioned why Bax didn’t do more to prevent Cox from touching her sexually.
“I freeze up when I get scared,” Bax said.
Paquette questioned why she didn’t go to the police or tell more people sooner.
“Brian told me I could not share what was happening to me or he would kill me,” Bax said. “I believed from day one that would happen.”
“I say you never brought anything up because nothing happened that you didn’t want to happen,” Paquette alleged. He asked why Bax didn’t stop working for Cox.
She said she had nowhere to go, and no control over her finances as “the money I made went into a bank account that Brian had to sign as well as myself to get access to.”
Bax said she initially met Cox through her adoptive parents, Centre Wellington residents Ruth and Murray Richards.
In January 2024, Murray Richards was charged with assault, sexual assault, forcible confinement, eight counts of indecent assault on a female and 12 counts of gross indecency.
At the same time, Ruth Richards was charged with assault and forcible confinement.
None of the charges against the Richards have been proven in court. They are set to appear in court on March 25.
Bax said she, the Richards and Cox were all members of a nameless international church sometimes referred to as Two by Two (2×2), Friends and Workers or Truth Church.
She said her parents and Cox were all leaders in the church. There are no physical buildings associated with the church community – members worship in one another’s homes and at conventions.
There are multiple online groups dedicated to exposing alleged abuse within the church across the globe and providing support to survivors. According to information in these groups, hundreds of church members have faced allegations of sexual assault, many of them involving minors.
Bax said she was part of the church until last year.
She said after others spoke out about “things that were hidden within the church” she decided to do so herself.
“That’s when I stood up and said ‘the church can no longer hide this.’ And that’s why I came forward” in 2023, she said.
Cox’s trial is set to resume this week at the Ontario Court of Justice in Guelph.
