TORONTO — A man who set up a private online forum devoted to trashing and sexually degrading a former friend had his criminal harassment conviction upheld on Wednesday.
In its ruling, Ontario’s top court rejected an attempt by Darrin Sim to have the conviction quashed, saying the trial judge made no mistakes in finding him guilty.
“By any standard, Sim’s conduct was morally reprehensible,” the Appeal Court said.
Court records show that Sim and the woman, who cannot be identified, were friends for several years starting in 2001 when he was 29 years old. He developed unrequited romantic feelings toward her and both eventually married other people and started families, the records show.
They later began emailing updates on their lives and, in 2009, he asked her for photographs of herself, which she sent.
In November 2010, court heard, Sim set up a Yahoo group forum and recruited about 150 members. The topic of the online group focused on the “degradation” of the woman, court documents show. She knew nothing about it.