PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The lawyer for an Ontario man who kidnapped and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old girl says the unsolved death of another teenager "hangs like a dark cloud" over this case.
A dangerous offender hearing for Stanley Tippett was supposed to start today in Peterborough, Ont., but had to be delayed until Tuesday because of a scheduling mix-up with a Polish interpreter for some of the Crown’s witnesses.
Tippett was convicted in 2009 on seven counts relating to the attack a year earlier, including kidnapping, sexual assault and sexual interference.
Before the hearing was adjourned today, Tippett’s lawyer Bob Richardson brought to the judge’s attention the case of Sharmini Anandavel, a 15-year-old girl whose remains were found four months after she went missing in June 1999.
Tippett was a suspect in the case but never charged, and Richardson said he believes it’s one of the reasons the Crown brought a dangerous offender application and is worried it could affect witness testimony.
If the judge decides Tippett is a dangerous offender, he could be jailed indefinitely.
The trial judge said Tippett’s unique head structure allowed several people to positively identify him as the girl’s abductor.
He has Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare condition that causes cranial and facial deformities which can affect hearing and speech.
Tippett claimed he offered safe passage to the drunken 12-year-old but was then carjacked by two armed men.
He was arrested, just hours after the girl was found half-naked behind a school 70 kilometres from where she was abducted in Peterborough.
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