Delia Greco

A registered massage therapist (later unregistered) was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and mischief.

The Crown alleged that over a period from 2013 to 2021, the defendant engaged in unwanted touching of complainants' genitalia and breasts during massage treatments, as well as improper draping and exposure.

The defendant denied all allegations, claiming any touching was accidental or consensual.

The trial involved extensive evidence from multiple complainants, expert testimony regarding professional massage therapy standards, and a successful similar fact application.

The court found the defendant guilty of eight counts of sexual assault and one count of mischief, while acquitting on two counts where the evidence did not meet the beyond reasonable doubt standard.

Trevor Hosie pleaded guilty to impaired driving causing death and failing to provide a sample after a collision resulted in the death of Rosemary Lopetrone.

The court considered aggravating factors including the loss of life, significant victim impact, the offender's reckless decisions, G2 license status, refusal to provide a sample, misleading statements in the Pre-Sentence Report (PSR), and a criminal record with substance abuse history.

Mitigating factors included an early guilty plea and genuine remorse.

The court imposed a sentence of six and a half years in the penitentiary, less pre-trial custody, and a 10-year driving prohibition.

The applicant, J.Y., charged with sexual assault and mischief, sought a stay of proceedings for one sexual assault count (count 11) on the grounds of abuse of process.

The applicant argued that police assurances of no charge led him to participate in a College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO) disciplinary process, providing information that was later disclosed to the Crown and complainant, compromising his right to silence and trial fairness.

He also cited unreasonable pre-charge delay.

The court found a significant impairment of the applicant's right to a fair trial and that the state's reversal of its decision not to charge, without new evidence, undermined the integrity of the judicial process.

Finding no alternative remedy, the court granted the stay of proceedings for count 11.

The accused brought an application under s. 11(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, seeking a stay of proceedings due to unreasonable delay in their first-degree murder and attempted murder trial.

The total delay from charge to anticipated trial end was 37.12 months (1129 days).

The court deducted 98 days for defence delay (preference for consecutive preliminary inquiry dates) and 11 days for judicial illness, resulting in a net delay of 33.53 months (1020 days), which exceeded the 30-month presumptive ceiling for Superior Court cases.

The Crown argued that the delay was justified by exceptional circumstances, specifically the COVID-19 pandemic and the complexity of the case.

The court found the case to be of moderate complexity and attributed 107 days (3.53 months) of the delay to the COVID-19 pandemic's systemic impact and backlog.

This brought the net delay down to 30 months, falling within the presumptive ceiling.

The court also found that the defence had not demonstrated meaningful and sustained efforts to expedite the proceedings.

Consequently, the application for a stay of proceedings was dismissed.

The accused was charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, and invitation to sexual touching involving a complainant who was 13 years old at the time.

The accused, who was 18, argued he had an honest but mistaken belief that the complainant was 16 and that she consented to the sexual activity.

The court found the complainant's evidence to be fraught with inconsistencies and contradicted by an independent witness.

The court held that the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did not take all reasonable steps to ascertain the complainant's age, and failed to prove that the sexual activity was non-consensual.

All charges were dismissed.