Man appeals sexual assault conviction

Joseph Michael MacGillivray serving sentence of two years less a day after judge found him guilty of sexually assaulting teenage girl he didn’t know

A Stratford man is appealing his conviction and sentence after a judge found him guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl he didn’t know.

Joseph Michael MacGillivray, 22, filed the appeal recently seeking to have his conviction and sentence set aside.

In the alternative, MacGillivray is seeking a new trial.

Chief provincial court Judge Nancy Orr found MacGillivray guilty of sexual assault after a trial and sentenced him to two years less a day in jail.

During the trial, Orr heard the victim was drunk when she ended up in MacGillivray’s dark bedroom where he was sleeping.

The victim didn’t know MacGillivray was there, and the two were strangers.

During the trial, Orr heard MacGillivray took no steps to determine who was in his bed.

Orr found MacGillivray made no efforts to determine if the victim, who was drunk, was consenting or able to consent.

After the assault, MacGillivray and the victim exchanged messages through Facebook in which he denied what he did was rape and apologized to the girl several times.

MacGillivray also failed to show up at the start of his trial and was arrested after Orr issued a warrant.

The appeal listed six grounds, including that Orr erred when she found there was no evidence of mistaken consent or honest belief in consent.

Orr erred in her assessments of the credibility of the victim and of MacGillivray and the reliability of their evidence, the notice of appeal said.

The notice of appeal also said Orr erred in admitting text messages into evidence.

A publication ban prevents the release of any details that could identify the victim.