The trial for a metro-area figure skating coach accused of sex offences will continue after the defence failed to have some of the charges thrown out last week.
Matthew Power, now 30 years old, faces a total of 10 charges against two girls who were in their early teens and 10 years younger than him when the offences are alleged to have occurred four years ago.
The evidence includes the alleged sharing of sexually explicit pictures and messages with Power over the social media platform Snapchat.
The defence argued there was no direct or circumstantial evidence to suggest that Power planned to use those communications to take it to the next level and carry out other sex offences against one of his two accusers.
With that, Power’s lawyers applied to have the Snapchat evidence thrown out and acquittals entered on four related charges.
But in her decision last week, Justice Valerie Marshall ruled said the Snapchat evidence, if believed, could support an inference of guilt on the four counts, being careful to note that Power remains innocent of all the charges until proven otherwise.
The charges against him include sexual interference, sexual assault, as well as child luring and making sexually explicit material available to a child. He was arrested in 2021 after the allegations were first made to police and Skate Canada.
Power remains suspended by the national body pending the outcome of the trial, which is currently on a break and scheduled to resume in late June.