Man found not guilty of sexually assaulting daughter

A judge acquitted a rural western Manitoba man Monday of penetrating his 11-year-old daughter with his fingers while she was bathing in 2019.

The 42-year-old accused, who the Sun cannot name due to a publication ban on information that could identify the girl, stood trial for sexual assault and sexual touching of a person under 16 years old.

The trial took place on Nov. 4 and 5 last year and continued Monday afternoon in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench with the defence’s final witness and closing arguments.

The complainant testified in November that her father’s then-partner was present in August 2019 when the incident happened, and that it took place at the partner’s mother’s house.

She said she didn’t tell anyone until 2022, when she was at a friend’s birthday party. Her friends encouraged her to tell her mother, she testified.

The accused denied touching his daughter or being with her while she was bathing. He testified his three children, whom he shared with his ex-wife, only visited for a few hours at a time, and overnight visits weren’t allowed until September 2019 — after the date of the allegations.

He testified there was no reason his daughter would be bathing there during this time.

The accused’s partner, who testified on Monday, said the girl wasn’t inside the house at all in August and that her mother had a rule against bathing, only allowing five-minute showers in an effort to conserve water.

In closing arguments, defence lawyer Jonathan Richert said his client was clear, not evasive and unequivocal while testifying.

“He did not appear, in my view, to be shaken one bit on any topic,” he said.

Richert said the way the complainant explained how the incident happened during her testimony didn’t sound credible. It was also concerning that there were instances when her story changed, he said.

Richert said days before the trial, the complainant reached out to the Crown and said the incident happened in 2020, not 2019. When she testified, she confirmed that it was in fact 2019.

The accused’s former partner also testified in a clear, consistent and candid manner, Richert said, and both her and the accused’s evidence should raise a reasonable doubt of guilt.

Crown attorney Reid Girard said the accused’s former partner’s evidence “isn’t capable of belief for a few reasons.”

He said it’s concerning she testified about certain dates, specifically that she said the incident couldn’t have happened in August 2019. She later testified the accused had filled some gaps in her memory about dates before she gave her statement to police.

“There seems to be some … unconscious collusion,” Girard said.

Girard referred to her testimony that the complainant wasn’t inside the house in August 2019 and said that it was inconsistent with the other witnesses’ testimonies, who all said there would have been periods of time the complainant would be inside the house.

Additionally, no other witness mentioned a rule against bathing, he said.

“Not mentioning that is kind of a blaring omission in everyone else’s evidence. The fact that there was this rule that nobody could have a bath, and we’re only learning about it today … I think is concerning,” the Crown said.

Girard said with the accused’s attempts to distance himself from any possibility of the allegations and the inconsistencies related to that and other witnesses’ testimonies, the court should not believe his evidence.

He suggested the Crown had proven the offences beyond a reasonable doubt.

Justice Scott Abel said the accused’s attempt to distance himself from the alleged events is not enough to “totally disregard his evidence.”

Abel added that the inconsistent evidence from the accused’s former partner regarding whether the complainant was ever in the house and the no-bathing rule wasn’t enough to find her not credible.

He said even if he put no weight on that evidence, he would still be left with her evidence that no sexual touching happened.

“I cannot conclude that I don’t not believe the evidence of the accused and (his then partner), and finding myself in that position, the accused is acquitted of both charges,” Abel said.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com