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BRIDGEWATER, N.S. – A jury has begun deliberations in the case of a Halifax man accused of sexually assaulting a blindfolded 16-year-old boy at a cabin.
Sixty-four-year-old John Leonard MacKean has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and communicating for the purpose of obtaining sexual services from a person under 18.
MacKean took the stand in his own defence Thursday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court, saying the youth did not seem upset and was not in chains when they had a sexual encounter on Sept. 20, 2012.
The youth, now 17, testified earlier in the week he was chained to a bed, unable to move, and cried during the alleged incident.
Judge Richard Coughlan told the jury that consent to sexual activity doesn’t necessarily require an explicit statement from the alleged victim.
Coughlan says the alleged victim’s gestures, actions and state of mind must be taken into account.
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