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So this is what Eric Tillman meant when he said there was more to his sexual assault charge?
When the GM of the Saskatchewan Roughriders assured us of that more than a year ago, we presumed, as the law itself dictates, he might be innocent.
Perhaps his babysitter’s story of being touched improperly one summer day in 2008 was fabricated.
Perhaps a simple pat on the rear was misinterpreted as sexual when it was only friendly.
We didn’t know for sure.
But Tillman told us the truth would come out.
And this week, it did.
Enough sordid detail to forever soil Tillman’s squeaky clean image.
On Monday, the 52-year-old son of a Mississippi preacher pleaded guilty to a summary charge of sexual assault on a 16-year-old Regina girl.
An admission of guilt, after all this time, isn’t exactly what we were expecting.
It turns out Tillman put his fingers through the girl’s belt loops and pulled her rear end into him while she bent down to feed one of his kids.
Nothing was fabricated. Nothing misinterpreted.
Crown prosecutor Bill Burge told court in Regina the contact was “clearly of a sexual nature” and happened without consent, as the girl said, ‘No’”.
Tillman’s defence — that he doesn’t remember anything due to a double dose of sleep aids and pain medication for a sore back — is sketchy, at best.
I’ll give him this: his apology read like it was from the heart. I’m sure he deeply regrets what he’s done.
But that doesn’t change the fact he did it.
This wasn’t a lewd comment to a female at the office. It wasn’t an improper pat on the rear.
This was an overt act towards a teenager he wielded power over.
Tuesday, a judge granted Tillman an absolute discharge, which means the man won’t carry a criminal record and doesn’t have a probationary period with conditions attached.
It’s as good an outcome as Tillman could have hoped for, given his plea.
To the law, it’s as if the incident never happened.
To the Roughriders, it’s a different story.
This isn’t something you sweep under the carpet. It was just one mistake, yes — but it was a major one.
Now that the province’s spotlight is off the World Junior Hockey Championship, I’d expect the Riders board of governors to meet, and act, swiftly.
I’d be shocked if Tillman isn’t relieved of his duties.
That would be the right thing for the board to do. Community-owned team, or not.
Tillman violated that community’s trust. Period.
There seems to be a line of thinking in the CFL that if Tillman is fired he’ll automatically end up at the helm of another team.
From a purely football standpoint, that’s a no-brainer. Few people are as adept at building a winner as he is.
But if I’m on the board of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who are looking for a new GM, or I’m one of the owners of the Toronto Argonauts, who may be looking to make a change, I’d think twice.
Tillman’s lapse in judgment, whether he remembers it or not, was severe.
He crossed a line you just don’t cross.
The price could very well be his CFL career.