The Crown appealed the respondent's acquittal on a charge of sexual assault.
The respondent had masturbated and ejaculated on his sleeping wife's face, which the trial judge found to be simple assault because the respondent's motive was degradation rather than sexual gratification.
The Summary Conviction Appeal Court allowed the appeal, holding that the trial judge erred in law by confusing the sexual purpose of the offender with the objective sexual nature of the conduct.
A conviction for sexual assault was substituted, and the respondent was sentenced to a four-month conditional sentence.
