SELECTED CASE LAW
ONTARIO:
In 2014 ONSC 1472, Mr. T, a police officer, was acquitted of sexual assault, sexual exploitation when in position of trust or authority, breach of trust and making/possessing child pornography.
He had met a sixteen-year-old girl when she was stopped at a store for shoplifting. Knowing of her family troubles, he offered her a room to rent in the basement of his house, which she accepted. The events that formed the subject matter of the charges and the trial were alleged to have occurred in the months after she moved into his home. Mr. T allegedly sexually assaulted the girl while she slept, forced her to engage in sexual activity with him and his wife, and eventually took explicit photos of her by herself and engaging in sexual activity with his wife. The girl indicated that she had moved out after the initial sexual assault but came back to the house several times for a variety of reasons.
The Court questioned the credibility of the complainant, and ultimately acquitted Mr. T on all counts. It consistently raised her troubled family history and run-ins with the law as contributing to her potential for misleading the court:
To be sexually assaulted in June and remain in the residence for several more months when she appears to be a strong-willed person who would and could leave, raises a doubt. To return later when there is a hot tub, and use the hot tub with her girlfriend and the wife of the Defendant and the Defendant seems implausible if there had been a prior sexual assault to the extent of forced sexual intercourse. To provide a variety of statements about the type of camera used adds to the confusion […the victim] had many contacts with Durham Regional Police when calling about domestic legal circumstances and yet made no complaint about the allegations. If the allegations against [the defendant] occurred, one cannot imagine that she would not have made some complaint. The only explanation given is that she was afraid that [the complainant] would have the shoplifting charge reinstated. That is unbelievable.[1]
Also see: 2014 ONSC 1212 (application to introduce evidence).
[1] 2014 ONSC 1472 [emphasis added].
Criminal Offence(s): Child Pornography Offences, Sexual Assault, Sexual Exploitation