A decision in the case of alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a former Bentley-area resident may come down to whether her children’s testimony is corroborative or conspiratorial.
All four of her children testified to physical abuse that exceeded physical punishment as discipline, including swinging a pitchfork like a baseball bat at the children and knocking the oldest son, 40, unconscious from several hits to his head, dragging him into the next room, sitting on his chest and repeatedly hitting him across his face. Court was told this week that the latter incident left the oldest son with two black eyes, a split lip and multiple lacerations and bruises.
The name of the accused, now 63, and her four victims are protected by a court ordered publication ban. The mother faces several charges, including sexual assault, sexual interference, aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm and assault for the alleged incidents in the 1980s and 1990s.
The third day of the trial in Red Deer provincial court wrapped up on Wednesday with closing arguments from prosecutor Ed Ring and defence counsel Dave Inglis. Judge James Glass reserved his decision after hearing the arguments.
Inglis opened by conceding that the incident that resulted in the two black eyes had occurred, as the mother admitted to it on the stand Tuesday. He left it in the hands of the court which charge could apply to the incident.
Ring said he believes the court could convict the mother for assault causing bodily harm for the incident.
Inglis characterized the children’s testimony as the four of them teaming up against their mother, calling it a vendetta and saying it was clear the children wanted blood on the floor.
Ring pointed out that all four children were carefully told not to discuss their memories of abuse, police statements or preliminary inquiry testimony with each other. All four testified to not discussing these incidents with each other, as they were instructed by police.
The investigation started in 2004 when the youngest son, now 36, came to police with sexual assault allegations. He told them his mother had gone into his bedroom on 10 to 15 occasions, touched his genitals, licked his ear and ground her hips on him. The mother denied the allegation.
The other three gave sworn statements to police.
Inglis said there was little independent corroboration and no physical evidence presented. The accused denied many of the allegations, leaving much of the case to the mother’s word against her children’s.
Ring said the fact all four witnesses shared similar stories of abuse was enough to corroborate the allegations as fact.
Also at issue for the judge to decide is the standard applied to the discipline or beatings. The offences predate a 2004 Supreme Court of Canada ruling regarding spanking as discipline. Instead, Glass must rely on case law from a 1984 ruling on spanking children, which at the time was an acceptable form of punishment to correct children’s behaviour.
Glass reserved his decision, which is scheduled to be given on Sept. 3 in Red Deer provincial court.
mcrawford@www.reddeeradvocate.com