Defence and Crown attorneys delivered their closing arguments Thursday at the trial of Robert Litvack, a former baseball coach from the Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.
Litvack, 44, is facing two charges: sexual assault and sexual interference of a child who was 13 in 2021 when the alleged incidents occurred. He was the child’s private coach. Some of their meetings involved the coach massaging the teen for sore leg muscles.
Defence attorney Matthew Shadley said the case comes down to whether the accused had sexual intent. He noted in his closing remarks that during some of the sessions, the teen was asked to lower his underwear briefly so that Litvack could also massage the child’s buttocks, but that the buttocks were exposed for a few seconds and only when they were being massaged.
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In court testimony, the teen said at times it felt like his buttocks were spread during the massage of the buttocks and it made him uncomfortable. But Shadley said his client believes that if the child’s buttocks were spread at any time during the massage, it could have been accidental.
The attorney argued that at no time did his client attempt to hide the fact that he was massaging the teen and there were no sexual discussions during the sessions. He said Litvack probably should have had the teen’s parents present during the massage sessions and that his client’s actions may have been unethical, but that they weren’t criminal. He said there is not enough evidence to show that Litvack meant the massages to be sexual.
Crown prosecutor Camille Boucher, on the other hand, said Litvack minimized his role and interest in the teen’s life during his testimony, and that a close relationship had developed between the coach and the teen. She pointed to the many hours that the two spent together weekly, noting that their conversations went beyond just baseball.
Boucher also pointed out that Litvack was a coach and not a massage therapist, and noted that the accused had not sent the teen to see a specialist to deal with the muscle soreness. She questioned the need to massage the teen’s buttocks, since it was the legs that were sore — not the buttocks. She said the teen’s sexual integrity was compromised, at the very least.
The verdict is expected to be handed down Sept. 3.