Final arguments were to be made today in the trial of a Red Deer man accused of sexually assaulting his stepdaughter.
The 39-year-old man’s name is withheld to protect the identity of the girl, who was 13 at the time three of the offences are alleged to have occurred.
An earlier offence is alleged to have taken place while she was a toddler, but no complaint was laid at the time.
In her testimony before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Keith Yamauchi, the girl described three incidents, including an assault during a family camping trip in July 2011 and two further incidents that year at the family home on the evening of Aug. 24 and again in the morning of Aug. 25.
Her mother testified concerning the earlier incident. Questioned by defence counsel Kevin Sproule in court on Thursday, the man denied all of the allegations.
He said he and the girl’s mother met in 1998 and were married early in 2000. Although not the child’s biological father, he said had been her dad since she was three months old and that he had never touched her inappropriately or invited her to touch his body.
Defence counsel Kevin Sproule and Crown prosecutor Robin Snider were scheduled to make their closing arguments today with Yamauchi to give his decision on Nov. 7.