Sextortion trial put on hold over evidence question

A Saskatoon sextortion trial that was scheduled to conclude on Friday has been adjourned while a judge decides if a police statement should be admissible as evidence.

This week, the Queen’s Bench trial of Abdul Rehman Jat entered a voir dire — a hearing within a trial to determine if Jat fully comprehended what was going on during an interview with an internet Child Exploitation unit officer.

Jat was arrested in 2016, when he was 19 years, and charged with extortion, luring and distributing and possessing child pornography. He’s accused of creating fake Facebook accounts, sometimes using other people’s identities, to lure a 17-year-old girl into sending him nude photos. Jat then allegedly threatened to distribute them unless she had sex with a man named Abdul and sent photos to prove it.

The trial proper heard from a forensic technician who testified Jat’s cellphone contained some of the extortion accounts, but also contained other user accounts, which suggests someone else could have been using his phone.

During the voir dire, Jat testified he made certain admissions to police because the officer scared him into thinking he had no choice. He said while parts of his statement were true, other parts were false.

The trial was adjourned for about a month, after which Justice Neil Gabrielson is expected to make his decision on the voir dire.