In this family law trial, the court determined custody, access, travel, restraining order, and police-enforcement issues for a young child amid serious but unproven allegations of sexual and physical abuse by the father.
Applying the best-interests analysis under the Divorce Act and Children's Law Reform Act, the court found significant credibility problems on all sides, held the abuse allegations were not proven on a balance of probabilities, and assessed the future risk of harm as low.
Sole custody was granted to the mother because of conflict, prior domestic violence, and a power imbalance, while the father received a graduated unsupervised access regime rather than supervised access.
The court also imposed significant travel-document restrictions on the father, granted a restraining order, and declined to include a police enforcement clause.
