Former Ilisaqsivik director found not guilty of sexual assault

Malcolm Ranta’s lawyer said no one should have to go through what his client has endured, after the former director of Ilisaqsivik Society was acquitted Tuesday morning of sexual assault.

Ranta was charged with one count of sexual assault in July 2022 and placed on leave from his position with Ilisaqsivik, which runs Inuktitut-language counselling and community wellness programs in Clyde River and other Nunavut communities.

By February 2024, the organization had hired a new executive director and said Ranta was no longer an employee.

Ranta’s trial started Monday at the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit with testimony from the complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

Cross-examination continued into Tuesday, until the woman broke down in tears and was unable to go on.

Solomon Friedman, Malcolm Ranta’s lawyer, says Tuesday’s court decision reaffirms the innocence of Ranta which he maintained throughout the process. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)

“I would submit that the cross-examination in this case, although permissible, is also very intrusive and invasive in its nature,” said Crown prosecutor Abel Dion.

He said that during a brief recess he talked to the complainant to assess her state of mind and that continuing the trial could “potentially be damaging to her.”

“I think both parties want to see some finality in this case today,” Dion said.

Despite Dion’s assertion that there was enough evidence to charge Ranta in 2022, he asked the judge to acquit Ranta. The request was echoed by Ranta’s lawyer, Solomon Friedman.

Justice Mia Manocchio agreed.

Through his lawyer, Ranta declined to comment on his acquittal, but Friedman offered a statement on his behalf shortly after court adjourned.

“Since the moment this false allegation was made, Malcolm has maintained his innocence. Today’s decision reaffirms that innocence,” said the statement.

Friedman referred in the statement to contradictions in the complainant’s testimony, where she said the incident happened the night of either Dec. 22 or Dec. 23 in 2020. She previously told police the date of the alleged assault was Jan. 9, 2021.

The woman also said during Friedman’s questioning that, at the time, she didn’t view the incident as sexual assault and if she had, she would have ended any contact with Ranta immediately, which she didn’t.

She said she only fully realized that what had happened was sexual assault after talking to her partner in spring of 2022. The woman’s partner wasn’t present in the courtroom for the trial because he was hunting.

Her partner was “violent” and “controlling” and often jealous of her and other men, Friedman suggested during cross-examination, and the woman agreed.

“The chronology speaks for itself in terms of when she came forward with this false allegation after having been viciously beaten yet again by a jealous and controlling partner,” Friedman said after the ruling.

Friedman also criticized RCMP in his statement, calling their investigation “woefully incomplete” and accusing officers of failing to do the bare minimum in corroborating the allegation.

“The police rushed to judgment and in the process, ruined an innocent man’s reputation and upended a promising career of services to the most vulnerable in our country,” he said.

RCMP did not respond to a request for comment on Friedman’s criticisms.

Ranta’s LinkedIn page indicates he’s currently employed as a consultant in Toronto. When asked, Friedman would not confirm or elaborate on Ranta’s current employment.