The accused was tried on charges of sexual assault and possession of child pornography arising from a sexual encounter with a 16-year-old coworker and an alleged Snapchat photo exchange.
Applying the subjective consent framework and the W.(D.) credibility analysis, the court accepted the complainant’s evidence, rejected the accused’s account on the disputed facts, and found that there was no consent to digital or vaginal penetration.
The court further held that the defence of honest but mistaken belief in communicated consent failed because the accused did not take reasonable steps to ascertain consent and proceeded despite clear indications of non-consent.
The Crown did not establish that the accused occupied a position of trust at the relevant time.
On the child pornography count, the absence of physical evidence and uncertainty about knowing acquisition and possession of the image left a reasonable doubt, resulting in an acquittal on that charge.
