Former Calgary bar owner Grant Cichacki faces trial on five sexual assault counts spanning 13 years

Grant Cichacki, a former Calgary bar owner, faces five counts of sexual assault in a trial that opened Wednesday before Justice Nick Devlin in Calgary Court of King's Bench. Crown prosecutor Peter Mackenzie alleged that Cichacki sexually assaulted five women over a 13-year period between May 2006 and April 2019.

Each alleged victim knew Cichacki through work in Calgary's bar industry. The Crown alleges each assault occurred during a social outing with Cichacki at his home, with each woman consuming alcohol at the time. Mackenzie told the court that all five women will testify they felt impaired, were going in and out of consciousness, or had lost consciousness or were asleep when the alleged sexual contact occurred.

"All will say that when they had sexual contact with the accused, they felt impaired, felt they were going in and out of consciousness or felt that they had lost consciousness or were asleep," Mackenzie said.

A sixth complainant's charge was stayed by the Crown in 2024 after reviewing the woman's trial testimony. At a hearing for that stayed charge, Cichacki denied wrongdoing. He said the allegations forced him to sell shares in four Calgary clubs.

The Crown's position is that each woman either did not consent to sexual contact or was unconscious or incapacitated and could not provide subjective consent. Prosecutors will argue that the testimony of each woman amounts to similar fact evidence that can be used to prove the allegations against the other complainants.

The trial is scheduled to run through November 6.