PICTOU, N.S. – A Nova Scotia youth court judge has found a teenager guilty of sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl he met on Facebook.
The 16-year-old boy’s identity is protected by the Youth Criminal Justice act, as is the identity of the victim.
The two arranged to meet face to face after corresponding through Facebook . They bought wine with the help of someone the court called a “liquor Samaritan” and went to a friend’s home where they spent the night. The next day, the two had unprotected sex.
When the girl’s mother found out, she took her for medical treatment and contacted the police.
The boy was charged, but pleaded not guilty. He told the court he believed the girl was 14 at the time.
The boy also testified that the entire encounter was the girl’s idea, including the meet-up, drinking binge and sex. The judge discounted that testimony and in his ruling wrote that the boy’s testimony was “remarkable in its profession of avoidance of any responsibility whatsoever.”
Judge Del Atwood of the Youth Justice Court ruled that the girl was unable to give legal consent because she was 12 at the time and found the boy took no steps to determine the girl’s real age.
The case was heard intermittently between last October and late January. A written decision on the case was released March 4.
The sentence for the boy has yet to be determined.
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