Nunavut court: man guilty of indecent exposure on young stepdaughter

A judgment issued Sept. 23 from the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit outlines the charges and judgment against a man who exposed himself to his girlfriend’s young daughter. (FILE PHOTO)

Nunavut Justice Sue Cooper has found a man guilty of indecent exposure in front of his girlfriend’s young daughter as well as breaking his undertaking not to contact her.

Cooper, in a Nunavut Court of Justice judgment released Sept. 23, found the man guilty on a charge that between Jan. 1, 2010 and Dec. 31, 2013, he “did for a sexual purpose expose his genital organ to M.N., under 16.”

Cooper’s judgment has been anonymized to protect the complainant, and others, so the name of the community and the names of the accused and the complainant do not appear in it

Cooper also found that he breached his undertaking for communicating, on or about Feb.15, 2015, with the girl, called M.N., when he was already under court-imposed conditions not to have any contact with her.

In the judgment Cooper said the girl lives with her mother. For the past six years, the man, the boyfriend of M.N.’s mother, also lived with them, along with younger siblings.

“Throughout her testimony, the complainant [M.N.] described a chaotic household where alcohol abuse is a daily occurrence. She also described moving frequently between various houses and the shelter,” Cooper said.

In court, M.N. testified to six allegations involving her mother’s boyfriend, who did not testify.

The first incident is alleged to have taken place three to four years ago, Cooper said, when the family was living at House X and the girl was only 12 years old.

Alone in her house, the girl was sleeping in her bedroom, which she did not share with anyone, Cooper noted.

“She testified that she awoke to the accused calling her name,” Cooper said. “He was seated on the arm of an armchair that was located next to her bed. He was masturbating and told her to watch. The complainant testified that she turned away from him and pretended to be sleeping. The accused told her not to tell her mother and left the room.”

After telling her mother, the girl said in court that her mother was angry and then locked the accused out of the house.

Among the other six incidents related in the judgment, one that allegedly took place at House Y in March 2014.

Then, M.N. was drinking with the accused, her mother, a cousin, and “possibly her grandfather.” She said they drank a 60-ounce bottle of vodka.

“She testified that she fell asleep next to her mother on the bed in the living room and awoke to the accused digitally penetrating her while also masturbating. He was sitting on a footstool right next to the bed. The complainant’s younger siblings were awake and playing in the living room/kitchen area. The complaint testified that she went downstairs. Shortly after, her aunt called and asked her to babysit so she left the house,” the judgment relates.

Cooper said she found the girl to be a credible witness on the stand.

But she found the man not guilty on one charge of indecent exposure because the girl was, by then, over 16, which is the age of consent, and also found him not guilty on another charge of touching for a sexual purpose because the evidence suggested that everyone, including the girl, was drinking.

“While I am suspicious of the accused’s behaviour, I find that the level of drinking, coupled with the peculiar circumstances of the accused engaging in sexual conduct in front of so many people, including his partner, raises concerns. I find that it would be dangerous to convict on this evidence and accordingly, I find the accused not guilty,” Cooper said.

On the charge of indecent exposure, the man is liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years and to a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of one year, according to the Criminal Code of Canada.

NUCJ 29 R v J.N. by NunatsiaqNews