Image Credit: Cliff MacArthur/provincialcourt.bc.ca
May 26, 2021 - 6:00 PM
An Alberta man convicted in 2019 of sexual assault against a Kamloops teen is to be retried following an appeal.
Cory Richard Swain was charged in 2017 for sexual interference and sexual assault of a person under the age of 16, and later found guilty in June 2019 after a two-day trial.
The appeal judge, Peter Voith, ruled that the original decision swayed the burden of proof by relying on Swain to explain why the teen would fabricate her version of the events, according to a BC Court of Appeals decision published today, May 26.
Voith said credibility was the "central issue" in the original trial, which relied almost entirely on testimony from Swain and the teen. She was 15 at the time of the incident, which took place in July 2015.
The only other evidence presented to the court was a Facebook conversation between the teen and a friend discussing what had happened with Swain.
The teen's name is shielded from the public by a court ordered publication ban to protect her identity.
Swain pleaded not guilty to both counts, and the testimony from the two individuals varied wildly. The original conviction was levied when Swain could not explain why the teen would have fabricated the events.
In appeal decision, Voith decided that the 2019 ruling shifted the burden of proof onto Swain and affected his credibility.
A new trial date has not yet been set.
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