Following a judge-alone criminal trial, the court considered historical allegations that the accused, while acting as the complainant's mother's boyfriend, engaged the complainant in repeated sexual acts during childhood in a violent and unstable home.
Applying the W.(D.) framework, the court rejected the accused's evidence, accepted the complainant's testimony as credible and reliable, and found corroborative support in surrounding evidence about the household dynamics, opportunity, and the complainant's delayed disclosure.
Defence theories of fabrication based on compensation, a prior altercation, drug-related conflict, and relationship difficulties were rejected as speculative or inconsistent with common sense.
Convictions were entered for sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, and sexual assault.
