A man who held the province’s first ride-sharing licence for less than 48 hours appeared in Supreme Court yesterday, ahead of his trial on child sex charges.

Forty-four-year-old Yosief Tesfamicael is facing five counts against minors, including sexual assault and interference, invitation to sexual touching, making sexually explicit material available to a child, and exposing himself.

All those charges were before the courts back in January when he was praised by the province for his RedSea Riding venture, and awarded his licence.

But that licence, and the news conference around it, was abruptly suspended two days later, with officials confirming “new information” received, in response to inquiries from VOCM News.

They said the application met established criteria, noting while owners must do criminal records checks on its drivers, they don’t on themselves, unless they’re driving. Instead, owners must have a Certificate of Good Standing from the Registry of Companies.

Officials declined further comment given the ongoing criminal matter.

Tesfamicael arrived in Canada from the African country of Eritrea in 2012, with the offences alleged to have occurred shortly thereafter—between 2013 and 2021.

He sat quietly reading a book in the back of the courtroom yesterday during a hearing over access to third-party records in the case.

There is a publication ban on those details, as well as the identities of the alleged victims.

The trial is scheduled to start on October 7.