Man found not guilty of sexually assaulting stepdaughter

A BC Supreme Court judge acquitted a 43-year-old man who was tried in Prince George on charges of sexual interference and sexual assault against his stepdaughter. In a July 8 verdict, Justice Shannon Ramsay decided the Crown did not prove its case beyond...

A BC Supreme Court judge acquitted a 43-year-old man who was tried in Prince George on charges of sexual interference and sexual assault against his stepdaughter. In a July 8 verdict, Justice Shannon Ramsay decided the Crown did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, due to inconsistencies in testimony. The alleged offences took place between November 2016 and November 2020, when the complainant was between the ages of eight and 11-years-old.

The Crown alleged that, during an unspecified number of occasions, the accused carried out sexual acts. A publication ban protects the identity of the complainant. “The central issue in this case is whether those alleged acts occurred.

The complainant, who was 17 at the time of the trial, testified that they did,” Ramsay said. “The accused testified that they did not.” The girl met the man shortly after he began a romantic relationship with her mother in May 2016.

Her mother became pregnant around September and gave birth to twin boys the following spring. Ramsay found both the complainant and accused to be credible witnesses, although there was some imprecision in the girl’s evidence that she attributed to the passage of time. The accused testified he is an an alcoholic who started drinking at age 12, but stopped drinking when he learned of the pregnancy and remained sober until shortly after their birth, due to stress.

“In cross-examination, he agreed he was intoxicated when putting the complainant to bed — in that alcohol was in his system — but he denied that he was ever ‘heavily’ intoxicated when putting her to bed,” Ramsay said. He became sober again in August 2019 but experienced a week-long relapse in 2023. The judge said he was candid about his drinking problem, provided consistent testimony in direct and cross-examination and did not falter, even under the Crown’s rigorous cross-examination.

“He did not appear to tailor his evidence to the evidence of the complainant or her mother,” Ramsay said. Ramsay said the Crown argued that she should accept the mother’s evidence when consistent with the complainant and the Crown theory, but she she should reject it when it conflicted with the complainant. The offences all took place in the evening, when the complainant’s bedroom had ambient lighting and her habit was to keep the television turned on while falling asleep.

“The complainant testified that her door would be mostly closed when the accused lay with her in her bed,” Ramsay said. “The complainant's mother and the accused both testified that the door would be open.” The bedroom was situated between the master bedroom and the twins’ bedroom and her mother would regularly walk past while the girl was inside.

“The complainant bed was situated directly across from her bedroom door,” Ramsay said. “The complainant's mother's testimony is that she never observed anything of concern between the accused and the complainant.” Ramsay said the not guilty verdict “does not and should not be taken to reflect on the complainant personally, in any way.

I recognize that it can be difficult to accept. It is not enough for me to be persuaded that the offences might have occurred or even that they probably occurred.”