The defendant, D.M., faced charges of sexual exploitation of a person with a disability, sexual exploitation, and sexual assault.
At the close of the Crown's case, defence counsel applied for directed verdicts of acquittal on the two sexual exploitation charges.
The court applied the Shephard test, which requires determining if there is any evidence upon which a reasonable jury, properly instructed, could return a guilty verdict.
The core issue was whether the Crown had adduced sufficient evidence to establish a relationship of trust, dependency, or an exploitative relationship between D.M. and the complainant (W.C.), an intellectually disabled young man.
The court found ample evidence in the record to support a jury's conclusion that such a relationship existed, given W.C.'s significant intellectual disability, vulnerability, and the power imbalance in the relationship.
Consequently, the application for directed verdicts was dismissed.