WINNIPEG — The day after the first Manitoba court case was tossed out due to court delays, victims’ advocates are expressing concern.
The charges against a man accused of abusing a young girl for six years were stayed on Tuesday due to a delay in bringing the case to the courtroom.
READ MORE: 1st Manitoba court case tossed due to court delays; accused child sex abuser free
On Wednesday, sexual abuse victims advocates spoke up about the disheartening feeling this brings to the overall process a victim already goes through when sharing their story.
Jaymie Friesen is a Program Facilitator with Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre, and she said while she’s frustrated with the results of the case in which an accused child sex abuser was let free, she’s definitely not surprised.
“You’re giving such a painful part of your story and life experience to a system whose duty is to protect you and find justice and restitution for you,” Friesen said.
Friesen explained that victims already struggle putting their faith in the justice system and struggle with having to tell and re-tell their stories. Now, with a case being thrown out due to court delays she said victims are being given yet another reason to not want to come forward and try and seek justice for what has happened to them.
“We often have to tell survivors this could be prolonged for years to come,” Friesen said.
Defence Lawyer, Jay Prober, said while this may be considered the first case to be stayed, he doesn’t predict it’ll be the last.
“This decision is not surprising. I expect there will be more applications for delay. It brings the administration of justice in disripute,” Prober said.
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