Sexual Assault

The Criminal Code offence of sexual assault criminalizes a wide range of behaviours. A sexual assault is defined as an unwanted touching that is sexual in nature. Accordingly, anything from intentionally brushing up against a stranger in a club to a violent rape falls under the ambit of sexual assault. What these actions all have in common is that they can result in criminal records, jail, and being placed on a sex offender registry.

There are several defences available to individuals charged with sexual assault, namely:

• that the alleged activity never took place
• that the alleged activity took place, but was consensual
• that the alleged activity took place and there was an honest mistaken belief it was consensual.

One of the challenges faced by those defending themselves against such charges is that the Criminal Code places numerous limits on the evidence that can be called in defence. For example, an accused is prohibited from leading evidence of prior sexual activity of the complainant (absent an order from the judge granting permission to do so) and is prohibited from gaining access to therapeutic records or other records in which the complainant has a privacy interest (again absent an application to the trial judge granting permission to do so).

When charged with a sexual offence, you need a Toronto sexual assault lawyer who has experience defending sexual offences and overcoming the evidentiary challenges that they present. Toronto sexual assault lawyer Graham Zoppi has successfully defended countless sexual assault charges for his clients. In over a decade of practice, he has yet to lose a sexual assault trial. The following are some examples of his successes in this area:

In this case Mr. Zoppi’s client met the complainant on a bus platform in the early morning after the subway had just closed. She was distressed and crying and he consoled her. This consolation progressed into consensual kissing. According to the complainant, the accused then proceeded to engage in non-consensual intercourse with her. Mr. Zoppi cross-examined the complainant extensively at the preliminary hearing and the trial and exposed numerous inconsistencies between her account and the objective physical evidence that existed. Mr. Zoppi’s client was acquitted. A copy of the decision can be found here.

Mr. Zoppi’s client was charged with another sexual assault while on bail for the above charges. Mr. Zoppi got his client bail a second time. He then successfully applied to access the complainant’s psychiatric records, which revealed numerous conditions which would give cause for concern about the complainant’s ability to accurately recount events. Due to delays caused by the third party records applications as well as interpreter availability problems, Mr. Zoppi succeeded in having his client’s charges dismissed for unreasonable delay.

In this case the client’s ex-wife claimed that their 4 year old daughter had reported her father had touched her genitals. Through cross-examination Mr. Zoppi was able to establish animus on the part of the ex-wife towards the accused which created a risk that she had influenced the child’s testimony. Additionally, during cross-examination Mr. Zoppi succeeded in getting the child to agree that the alleged conduct had never taken place. His client was acquitted.

The accused’s teenage daughter claimed that he had sexually molested her on two occasions. Mr. Zoppi was able to get access to the complainant’s therapeutic records which revealed a differing account of the events that severely undermined her credibility. Mr. Zoppi’s client was acquitted.

The accused was charged with inappropriate touching of his 15 year old nephew. Mr. Zoppi cross-examined the complainant extensively, and over the course of several days of questioning, eventually exposed inconsistencies and other serious credibility issues in the complainant’s testimony. Mr. Zoppi’s client was acquitted.

If you find yourself charged with a sexual offence, please contact an experienced Toronto sexual assault lawyer. In addition to the many cases he has won at trial, sexual assault lawyer Graham Zoppi has convinced the Crown Attorney’s office to abandon numerous sexual assault prosecutions without even having to set a trial date. Contact Mr. Zoppi today at 416-873-6970 for an appointment.