Man tried to groom victim, Crown says

Girl was 16 when man sexually assaulted her

CORNER BROOK — A west coast man accused of inappropriately touching the stepdaughter of one of his former employees has been convicted of sexual assault.

The conviction was entered when the man, who cannot be identified due to the publication ban put in place to protect the identity of his victim, appeared in provincial court in Corner Brook on Monday, April 8.

In his written decision, Judge Wayne Gorman said the man developed a sexual interest in the girl in 2022 when she was 16 years old, and agreed with the Crown’s suggestion he was trying to groom her.

During the man’s trial it was established that the girl and her family knew the man and his partner primarily through camping in the same area and because her stepfather once worked for him.

While the stepfather had more contact with the man, the girl or her mother had very little contact with him.

In late summer 2022 while camping, the man asked the girl if she wanted to go for a drive in his side-by-side. During the drive, she said, he asked her if she had a boyfriend and asked questions about her sexual activity. She said she was uncomfortable with the discussion.

On Sept. 12, 2022, the girl’s mother testified, the man showed up at their home while she was waiting for her partner to come home to take her to work. She said the man asked about her daughter’s driving, as she was in the process of getting her driver’s licence, and suggested he could take her driving.

She said she did not give him permission to do that, and he left.

The girl told the court that she was walking home from the school bus stop that day when the man called out to her from his truck, which was stopped across the street.

She said she never expected to see him and when he called her over, he told her he’d gotten permission from her mother to take her driving.

She told him that she had to go home first, and he said he’d drop by her house and then they could go for a drive.

Her mother was still home when she got there, but the girl didn’t say anything about the man’s offer.

About 30 to 45 minutes later, he showed up and she got in the passenger side of his truck. After driving to an area with some dirt roads he stopped the truck, and they changed seats. While she was driving the man reached over and put his hand on her right knee and said she was doing well. He then moved his hand to the inside of her right leg and moved his hand up her leg to the upper portion of her thigh. She told him to stop and pushed his hand away.

He then put his hand under the hoodie and shirt she was wearing and grabbed her breasts. She again told him to stop.

She told the man her stepfather would be home soon, and she had to go home. She stopped the truck, and they changed seats, and the man pulled some money out of his wallet and gave it to her, and told her not to say anything. She later realized he had given her $60.

The man dropped her off at a convenience store and she called her mother. They later went to the police station.

Gorman said he accepted the evidence of the girl, who is now 18, as being honest and accurate, and it was corroborated by other evidence presented.

While parts of her evidence were contradicted by other evidence and there were some inconsistencies, Gorman said, she was attempting to describe what for her was an obviously traumatic experience.

“It is hardly surprising that her evidence was not perfect,” he said.

In reference to the man grooming the girl, Gorman said that began prior to the assault when he questioned her about her sexual activity. When he lied to her about having her mother’s permission to take her driving, Gorman said, the man was trying to create a situation where he could be alone with the girl.

Gorman said the man’s work allowed him to drive around at will. It allowed him to wait for the girl to get off the school bus and to drive to her home twice on the same day, which was an exceptional occurrence, Gorman said.