Bid to see counselling records rejected

EDMONTON An Edmonton judge dismissed an application Friday by the lawyer of a man accused of sexual assault who was seeking access to the counselling records of a teenager who is the alleged victim.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Douglas Mah ruled that the arguments made by Domingo Tuquib Calimlim’s lawyer to access the records held by the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton and the University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre were “purely speculative” and didn’t meet the test of “relevance.”

Calimlim, 38, is charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual touching in connection to a November 2014 attack on a 16-year-old girl. The alleged assault happened at a fastfood restaurant where they both worked. Calimlim held a supervisory position at the restaurant.

Calimlim went to trial on the charges in December 2016, but a mistrial was declared after the complainant’s mother — in response to questions by Crown prosecutor Mark Huyser-Wierenga and defence counsel Walter Raponi — gave evidence that her daughter attended counselling following the alleged assault. The trial judge declared the mistrial after reconsidering his denial of Raponi’s request for an adjournment to make the application to access the counselling records.

The application was opposed by the Crown, as well as Legal Aid counsel the court ordered to represent the complainant, and by both centres that hold the counselling records.

There is a section of the Criminal Code that allows for disclosure of a sexual assault complainant’s counselling records if certain requirements are met.