On Crown pre-trial applications in a prosecution alleging sexual offences against a child, the court addressed the admissibility of a child complainant's prior statements, a video-recorded statement, and computer forensic expert evidence.
The court held that the prior consistent statements to the mother and first attending officer were not admissible as narrative or as circumstantial evidence of credibility and reliability, except for limited contextual evidence surrounding the initial disclosure and certain physical-description details.
The complainant's video statement was admissible on consent if adopted at trial under s. 715.1 of the Criminal Code.
The court also qualified the proposed police expert in computer forensic data extraction and admitted the forensic Xbox report in six specified subject-matter areas, finding the evidence probative and not unduly prejudicial.
