Senior convicted on historical child sex charges

A Dartmouth senior has been found guilty of sexually abusing a girl over a 10-year period beginning in 1978.

Edward Smith Murley, 70, stood trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax on two charges of sexual assault and single counts of gross indecency and indecent assault.

Justice Kevin Coady delivered the verdict Friday, convicting Murley on all four charges.

The identity of the complainant, now 47, is protected by a publication ban. She testified that her family was close with Murley and his former wife, and that she and her sister were often left in their care.

She told the court Murley began molesting her when she was just five years of age. The abuse progressed from touching to oral sex and intercourse, she said, and went on until she was 14.

She recounted incidents at Murley’s various residences in Halifax and Dartmouth and said she was also violated in the Windsor area. She said Murley took advantage of any opportunity he could find.

She said that when she was 14, she reported the abuse to Murley’s ex-wife and then to her mother. She went to police in the summer of 2016, 28 years later.

Murley took the stand in his own defence and denied that he ever assaulted the girl. He said his employment back then kept him away from home for extended periods of time and he would not have had the opportunity to commit the offences.

In his decision, Coady said the complainant’s testimony was credible and forthright, especially in light of the challenges she has faced in her life.

“I found her evidence to be balanced and moderately stated,” the judge said. “While she often struggled with her memories, she did not falter in her recall of the alleged offences. She was never evasive or exaggerative.

“She was not awkward about recalling the personal and traumatic events that had defined her young life in a totally dysfunctional environment.”

Coady said the woman remembered unique details about Murley that lent credibility to her evidence, and some of those points were corroborated by other witnesses.

The judge rejected the defendant’s “bald denials” and said he was satisfied that Murley had more than ample opportunity to carry out the offences.

“I accept that he was ... away from the home for days or even a week, but those absences were occasional,” Coady said. “For much of the time frame, he was driving a taxi locally and had custody of his own young children.

“This defence is not made out by Mr. Murley and is refuted by the testimony of other witnesses who were close to his family at the material times.”

He described Murley’s testimony as “evasive and selfserving.”

“Under cross-examination, he continuously avoided answering direct and difficult questions and attempted to escape to safer ground where he could expound on safer, extraneous information,” Coady said. “I conclude that this tactic was Mr. Murley’s imagined way of neutralizing the evidence against him. It did not accomplish that goal and his strategy was readily apparent.

“I also reject his suggestion that this prosecution is being driven by the animosity of his former spouse in retaliation for taking custody of their two children in 1984. There is no evidence supporting such a proposition.”

Considering the evidence in its entirety, the judge said he was satisfied that the Crown had proven all four counts on the indictment beyond a reasonable doubt.

Coady ordered a pre-sentence report at the request of defence lawyer Kathryn Piche and scheduled sentencing for March 5. Murley remains free on release conditions.

Crown attorney Rob Kennedy told The Chronicle Herald he will seek a lengthy prison term for Murley, who has other convictions for molesting children.

In 2017, Murley pleaded guilty to two counts of indecent assault on a male and one of gross indecency and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, to be served on weekends, followed by two years’ probation.

Those offences were committed between 1980 and 1985 in Dartmouth and involved a boy who was eight or nine years old and a girl who was between the ages of seven and nine.

Murley also has a conviction for sexual interference involving a boy in 2007. At sentencing in 2009, the court was told he had completed a forensic sexual behaviour program and was considered a low risk to reoffend. He received a 90-day intermittent jail sentence and three years’ probation.

Kennedy said the victim in the current case was present for Friday’s verdict and plans to read her impact statement to the court at sentencing.

“These cases are always challenging, given the passage of time and its effect on the memories of witnesses,” the Crown attorney said. “However, the complainant in this matter was an excellent witness in terms of recalling traumatic events.”