The accused was tried on multiple counts of sexual assault, sexual interference, and invitation to sexual touching involving a child complainant within a family caregiving context.
The court applied the child-witness credibility approach from the Supreme Court of Canada and the W. (D.) framework, finding that inconsistencies about dates, transportation details, and whether incidents occurred on a chair or couch were peripheral rather than material.
The court rejected the accused’s repeated claim that he was never alone with the complainant as improbable and inconsistent with the surrounding evidence.
The complainant’s core evidence was accepted, resulting in convictions on two sexual assault-related counts and two invitation/touching counts, with acquittals on the remaining counts.
