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A man who said in court that he “looked for bugs” in his young stepdaughter’s room in the middle of the night was convicted of sexual interference.
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Ontario Court Justice Gethin Edward said the 35-year-old man, who cannot be named because he would identify his victim, tried to be “half as clever” as he was on his own behalf testified.
In response to accusations of touching his stepdaughter, the man made up the story about beetles.
“The difficulty for the defendant is that he admitted that he was in (her) bedroom at night,” said the judge. “Why that? He said he was looking for bed bugs. Really? In the middle of the night? ‘Yeah – then they come out.’
“This time the court concludes that its explanation lacks the sound of truth. I neither believe the accused, nor did his testimony raise reasonable doubts. “
Edward convicted the man guilty in March and asked for a presentation report to be drawn up to aid in the conviction.
The judge ordered a total of two years minus one day, made up of three months the man had already spent in prison, with no additional credit, leaving 21 months to be served.
The man’s name was added to the sex offender database.
The court was told that the offenses were committed three to six years ago.
The man’s stepdaughter said when she was nine the man came into her room and put his hand under her underwear. When she woke up, the man ducked to the floor and crawled out of the room.
The court also heard that the man offered the girl a large jug of money if she would have sex with him.
Edward said the man displayed hypocrisy and an “unpolished manner” when talking about his ex-wife and his extensive use of computer dating sites during his marriage.
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“So can the court conclude that such a man would propose to a nine-year-old girl?” asked the judge. “Fortunately for (the defendant), a man in revolt is not the same as a man who is beyond doubt guilty of petitioning a nine-year-old child.”
This reasonable doubt led the judge to reject several charges and stick to a different one.
The man was originally confronted with two young relatives by marriage on two occasions for sexual assault, twice for sexual interference and twice for inviting two young relatives by marriage.
Three crimes involved a girl who said she fell asleep watching the Hannah Montana TV show and woke up at 3 a.m. to find her pants and the man with his hand on her. He asked her if he could cook her a hot dog and ran into the kitchen.
But the man’s lawyer found that the girl had an underdeveloped brain. She had two emotional breakdowns while testifying, and the man’s denial was unshakable during cross-examination.
“It left me with reasonable doubts,” said the judge and acquitted him on two counts.
SGamble@postmedia.com
@EXPSGamble
