The defendant brought a motion seeking to cross-examine the complainant regarding whether she claimed to have previously engaged in sexual activity with a 30-year-old man.
The Crown objected, arguing that such questioning constituted an attempt to elicit evidence of prior sexual activity under section 276 of the Criminal Code and therefore required a formal section 276 application.
The court ruled that section 276 was not engaged because the defense sought to prove that the statement was made, not for the truth of its contents, but to establish that the complainant was attempting to present herself as older.
The court distinguished between evidence of prior sexual activity and evidence of a claim of prior sexual activity made for a non-truth purpose.
