Trial begins for Regina music instructor accused of sexual assaulting minor

On the first day of Claro Recto Belen's sexual assault trial, the court heard from several witnesses, including the alleged victim. Jacob Carr reports.

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The trial of a Regina musical instructor accused of sexual crimes involving child officially began Monday.

Claro Recto Belen is charged with sexual interference, sexual assault, and invitation to sexual touching against a minor in connection to an incident on Feb. 6, 2024.

Belen has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The alleged assault occurred during a private music lesson.

The day largely consisted of the Crown and the defence asking questions of the alleged victim, who originally told their teacher about the incident before talking with a police officer about the details of the alleged assault.

That discussion between the officer and the alleged victim involved the officer showing the child drawings of different parts of the human body, before circling certain parts of anatomy with a marker and asking the alleged victim to name them.

When the officer pointed out a drawing of a penis, the child described it as a “urine tunnel.”

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The alleged victim was nine years old at the time of the incident and recounted their recollection of the events as Crown Prosecutor Jillian Borrowman asked questions.

One of those recollections involved Belen following the alleged victim into a washroom and proceeding to expose his “urine tunnel,” followed by forcing the alleged victim to put their hand on it.

Before the alleged washroom incident, the minor also claimed Belen ordered them to lay on the floor and then proceeded to lay on top of them, describing it as almost suffocating and noting they couldn’t breathe.

Defence lawyer Nicholas Robinson cross-examined the alleged victim, asking about the alleged washroom incident.

The child told the court that after the incident in the washroom, Belen proceeded with the lesson and then tried to apologize to them shortly after.

“I forgave Belen even though I didn’t mean it,” the alleged victim recounted.

Robinson questioned if it was possible Belen didn’t expose himself to the alleged victim.

“Is it possible you made this up because you were mad at your music instructor?” Robinson asked.

“It is not possible,” the alleged victim answered.

The child’s father, school principal, and school resource officer at the time of the incident, also provided testimony on Monday.