Cornwall Standard Freeholder

19 September 2008

Posted By DAVID NESSETH

In what the judge called a case of "he said, he said," a 50-year-old Cornwall man was found guilty Thursday of sexually assaulting a vacationing teen last summer.

During the 30 minutes he learned his fate, the defendant sat motionless in the courtroom gallery with his eyes closed. He has a family and works as a custodian with a local school board. He has no previous criminal record.

On July 18, 2007, the defendant invited a neighbour and his 17-year-old nephew -who was visiting from Athens, Ont. -to his home for beers. The court heard from the minor how things escalated to the point where the defendant put his hands up the shorts of the youth and touched his genitals.

"His description of events were ordered and I detected no calculation or deceit," said Justice Bruce MacPhee, noting there was no reasonable motive for the youth to fabricate the story.

The judge said the trial became a matter of credibility after the defendant admitted to the touching, but said it was consentual.

"If it was consentual, it wouldn't have been something he'd want to come public about," MacPhee said of the youth.

The judge noted that the age of the victim didn't play a role in his decision. He said it would have been sexual assault even if the minor had been 19, the age he gave the defendant in order to receive the alcohol.

"While the touching of his penis was momentary, his upset seems logical," MacPhee said.

A signed apology given by the defendant to the police was also a key part of the judge's ruling. While the defence had attempted to paint the letter as an apology for regretful behaviour between what the defendant had thought were consenting adults, MacPhee said the letter read as an apology for the defendant's behaviour alone.

A pre-sentencing report and victim impact statement are scheduled for Nov. 17.

The names in this case are under a publication ban.