Following a judge-alone criminal trial, the court convicted the accused of sexual assault and sexual interference arising from historical sexual abuse of his young daughter.
The central issue was credibility and reliability in a case involving delayed disclosure, a prior childhood denial, and competing testimony from the complainant and the accused.
Applying the governing principles respecting child witnesses, delayed disclosure, and the W.(D.) framework, the court found the complainant’s evidence credible, reliable, and compelling, and rejected the accused’s denial.
The court held that the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused placed his penis in the complainant’s mouth for a sexual purpose while she was under sixteen and incapable of consent.
