A Whitehorse jury has found a Carcross man guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2017.

An 11-person jury delivered its verdict against 56-year-old Alvin Dennis James in the late afternoon of Oct. 24 following roughly a day and a half of deliberations.

A twelfth juror was excused early in the trial, which began Oct. 15, after realizing she had previously worked with the victim’s mother.

James did not appear to react once the verdict was read out. One of the jurors, however, appeared to wipe away tears with a tissue after all 11 jurors confirmed the verdict was unanimous.

During the trial, the teen, whose name is covered by a publication ban, testified that she had been drinking with friends and James in Carcross but had gone to sleep alone in a spare bedroom at a friend’s house on Dec. 2, 2017.

She was awoken later on by another friend, who asked why James was lying in bed with her and had taken a picture of the scene before rousing them.

The teen went to the Carcross health centre, where she had a sexual assault kit done, and then the RCMP.

James’ semen was found on her leggings.

In his testimony, James also claimed that he had gone to bed alone, but was suddenly awoken by the teen’s friends who then assaulted him.

Defence lawyer Kelly Labine told the court following the verdict that she was not prepared to begin sentencing proceedings, and asked for time to have a Gladue report prepared and to possibly arrange for sentencing to happen in Carcross.

The matter will be back in court next month.