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Rouschop, a 44-year-old career thief, is on trial for the 2013 rape and choking of two Vanier woman. Both were sex trade workers and testified as Crown witnesses, recalling horrifying accounts of being attacked and choked until they blacked out in the backseat of Rouschop’s pickup truck in an unknown industrial lot.

Rouschop has pleaded not guilty, and on Thursday, his lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, launched his defence.

In her opening statements to the jury, Calvinho was quick to acknowledge that Rouschop has a criminal record that stretches four decades.

“He is far from a perfect man. He has made mistakes. He has committed crimes. He has spent time in jail and has a significant criminal record. He is known to local police and is someone who has been in and out of jail most of his adult life,” Calvinho told the jury.

She said that Rouschop couldn’t have committed the crimes as described in court because of his physical limitations.

The lawyer then addressed the elephant in the room.

“Due to his weight (around 400 pounds at the time) and his appearance, he will be the first to tell you that he has had a lot of trouble attracting members of the opposite sex, and that getting a woman’s attention, let alone having sex, was not something that happened very often for him.

“Despite his lack of physical attractiveness, he still had needs — sexual needs. And he turned to the services of sex trade workers,” Calvinho said.

The defence lawyer tried to portray Rouschop as more than a john, telling the jury that he cared about the Vanier sex trade workers, drove them around, bought them groceries, and “helped them anyway he could.”