Daycare provider molested two girls
An Ottawa daycare provider was convicted Monday of preying on two children in his care.
Ontario Court Justice Jack Nadelle found Jeffrey Wills, 41, guilty of sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual exploitation and sexual assault involving girls who were three and five years old at the time.
Wills, who had maintained his innocence during the trial, held his head in his hands as his wife consoled him following the verdict. Meanwhile, the family of one of the victims embraced.
The judge said the evidence of the two girls was “accurate, truthful and reliable.”
To avoid traumatizing the girls further, Assistant Crown Attorney Meaghan Cunningham filed an application to have the girls’ outof-court statements to their parents and police admitted as evidence. The judge accepted that application and used their statements in his decision.
The three-year-old girl’s parents reported the exploitation of their daughter to police on May 15, court heard.
What happened at the daycare came up in casual conversation between the girl and her mother about how the day went. The girl told her mother matterof-factly that Wills put his penis in her hand and was told he would get mad if she didn’t do what he asked, court heard. It wasn’t the first time Wills had exploited the girl.
Before the five-year-old girl was identified as a victim, she was interviewed by police for the investigation into the complaint made by the three-year-old girl’s parents. The next day, the five-year-old girl told her mother that she had seen the penis of her daycare provider but he never sexually assaulted her.
Det. Lisa King, the lead investigator, got a call from the five-year-old girl’s father to report what happened to their daughter. Her mother was heard sobbing in the background, court heard. During a second interview with police the next day, on May 19, 2013, the five-year-old girl said Wills had pulled down his pants to touch his penis during movie time. He also asked her to touch his penis, but she refused, court heard. Wills is scheduled to appear in court next on April 23. A sentencing date has not been set.