Rhodes had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault arguing that the victim had consented to the sexual activity. Judge Dewar rejected the defense following the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision that “no means no.” However he decided that although Rhodes had to be found guilty, he used the victim’s appearance and actions to mitigate the sentence.

Dewar commented that he wasn’t trying to blame the victim. But he said that there were “signals in the air” that the victim wanted to engage in sex although those signals were unintentional. The judge characterized what took place as “misunderstood signals and inconsiderate behaviour.” The justice also noted in his reasons that both women were wearing tube tops with no bras, high heels and a lot of makeup.