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War trauma defence accepted in rape
Jun. 23, 2006. 12:21 AM

WINNIPEG—A former soldier was so badly traumatized by a six-month tour in Bosnia that he cannot be held criminally responsible for sexually assaulting a teenage girl 10 years later, a Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled yesterday.


Justice Nathan Nurgitz found Roger Borsch, 34, not guilty by reason of mental disorder.


Borsch never denied breaking into the home of a co-worker in The Pas, Man., in 2004 and assaulting her 13-year-old daughter at knifepoint. The defence claimed he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and does not remember the attack.


Other former military personnel have tried to use post-traumatic stress disorder as a defence, but Borsch is believed to be the first one to succeed, defence lawyer Jason Miller said.


Prosecutor Don Knight was considering whether to appeal, and worried that the ruling might prompt other people to use a similar defence.


Borsch told the court he had witnessed atrocities while serving in Bosnia in 1994. He testified he had killed several people, including a Bosnian soldier who was sexually assaulting a girl.


Borsch's fate is now in the hands of a psychiatric review panel, which must decide whether to hospitalize him for treatment or to set him free.


Canadian Press