The accused was tried on multiple historical child sexual offence counts arising from allegations by two children, with a sibling also giving evidence as an alleged witness to one pattern of conduct.
The court applied the reasonable doubt principles from Lifchus and the W.(D.) framework, emphasizing that the case could not be resolved as a simple credibility contest.
While the court found the children testified honestly to the best of their ability, significant reliability concerns arose from material inconsistencies, the evolution of disclosures, prior sexualized behaviour, ongoing family discussions, and the possibility that recollections had been influenced by conversations with others.
The accused's evidence was not accepted in its entirety, but it could not be completely discounted and, when assessed in the context of the full record, left the court with a reasonable doubt.
The accused was acquitted on all counts.
