A man has been acquitted of sexual offences against a 14-year-old girl in metro in Supreme Court in relation to incidents one night in February, 2020. In delivering her verdict, the judge was critical of the RNC investigation.

After a night of drinking, a friend of the girl’s mother’s stayed at the residence that night. The alleged offences occurred after her mother had gone to bed.

Though the girl’s brother and mother were in the house at the time, the Crown called as their only witness the teenaged girl who claimed to have been sexually assaulted.

Police neither asked for a sample of DNA from the accused, nor demanded one through a warrant, even though such steps are regular occurrence in these cases. Neither did they ask for a sample from the complainant.

Compounding the case was that the complainant’s recollection of that night changed several times, and that RNC officers had a difficult time obtaining information and evidence from the complainant, such as a video of the assault on her phone which may or may not have existed. It’s questionable as to whether detectives exhausted all means to determine whether it did exist.

The judge also noted that the investigating officer never did visit the scene.

Supreme Court dismissed all charges.

The RNC says it is developing a statement to be released in the coming days.