Man seeks to have incest conviction thrown out

Five months after he was convicted of sexually abusing his daughter, a Calgary man is hoping to have the ruling stayed.

The man, who can’t be named to protect the identity of his victim, will seek a so-called Jordan application which argues the case took unreasonably long to come to trial.

Defence counsel Alias Sanders on Wednesday told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Bruce Millar that she’ll seek a Jordan application that’ll be heard August 21.

If that’s rejected, the court will proceed to sentencing submissions for the 37-year-old man convicted last January of eight sexrelated offences including incest and unlawful confinement.

The man sexually abused his daughter, then aged 21/2 years to 4 1/4 years between December 2009 and May 2012. Charges were laid in July 2013.

More than three years before his conviction, his daughter — then seven — testified in December 2014 via closed circuit TV.

In explaining his ruling, Justice Millar said the girl was a credible witness against her father.

“When describing what happened to her and who did it, (she) was positive and clear it was her father,” he said last January.

By contrast, Millar said he couldn’t accept the father’s testimony because “some of the claims were either improbable or absurd.”

Injuries to the girl’s privates were consistent with a prior sexual assault, a doctor testified. The girl’s father is currently incarcerated.

Crown Prosecutor Rose Greenwood is seeking an 18-year sentence. Under the 2016 so-called Jordan decision from the Supreme Court of Canada, trials must be completed 30 months after charges are laid.