Man acquitted of sexually assaulting teenage girl
A man accused of twice sexually assaulting his stepson’s 15-year-old girlfriend was acquitted Thursday afternoon.
The 34-year-old South Okanagan man was found not guilty of three counts related to the alleged sexual assaults between January and February 2016.
Justice Michael Brundrett rendered his decision in B.C. Supreme Court in Penticton, noting illogical points in the accused’s testimony, but an overall lack of evidence.
“Though I am suspicious, I cannot reject the accused’s denials outright. I am left feeling the events the complainant described probably happened, but I cannot be sure,” Brundrett said.
“I add that this verdict is in no way a reflection upon the complainant personally, but merely a result which flows from the rigourous standard of truth from a criminal trial.”
Brundrett said for the most part he believed the complainant’s testimony earlier this week that the man had twice sexually assaulted the then-15-year-old girlfriend of his stepson in his vehicle.
He said the accused’s evidence “was illogical on some points and stretched common sense on others.”
Key text messages between the two were not entered into evidence by Crown, as the young girl said at trial the messages were on an old phone which she no longer has in her possession.
Brundrett said the text message argument between the complainant and the accused, which occurred after the two had little contact following the alleged assaults, seemed illogical. He also had doubts surrounding the explanation from the accused that the girl was going to “fry” him for not selling her marijuana.
“I find I do not necessarily believe the evidence of the accused,” Brundrett said. “That said, I cannot decide this case simply by deciding whose version of events I prefer.”
The complainant alleged that, despite her resistance, the man had oral sex and intercourse with her in his vehicle on one occasion, and she described another occasion weeks later where the accused was her only option to get a ride to school. She claimed he pulled off the road on that occasion and again sexually assaulted her.
“In this case, there is a disconcerting lack of confirmatory evidence to assist me,” Brundrett said.
Aside from the text messages, Brundrett noted the lack of testimony from the accused’s then-stepson. The mother of the stepson, and the common law wife of the accused at the time, did not testify either, Brundrett noted.
“There’s no independent evidence at all to help me decipher what happened,” he said.
Sexual assaults often occur in private with regrettably little in the way of evidence or clues outside of the oral evidence provided by the accused and complainant, Brundrett said.
“At the end of the day, I am simply left with the word of two individuals with diametrically opposed stories. One of which I largely accept and the other of which has flaws, which I cannot reject entirely.”
Brundrett said the verdict would likely have been guilty if he “were to apply a burden of proof based on a balance of probabilities,” rather than reasonable doubt, and also “if certain of the text messages, or other corroborating evidence was in evidence before me.”