The Crown has finished calling witnesses in the trial for Trevor Pritchard. The 35-year-old is facing charges for sexual assault, luring and child pornography involving girls as young as 14. He was arrested for those offences in January of 2017.
READ MORE: Crown calls final witness in Trevor Pritchard trial
The defence told the court Pritchard is planning to take the stand in his own defence.
Its first witness was Morley Pritchard, Trevor’s 70-year-old father.
He testified that at the age of 19, his son was diagnosed with brain damage and attended a school program for people with disabilities.
He said his son had “died three times” and had been revived but suffered a lack of oxygen, causing the damage to his brain. He did not give details into the incidents where Pritchard suffered the lack of oxygen.
The defence has also put forward an application to prevent the Crown from using Trevor Pritchard’s previous criminal record during cross examination, if he takes the stand.
The judge is expected to give her ruling on that application Thursday.
Pritchard has three prior convictions for sexually assaulting adolescent girls dating back to 2004, 2009 and 2010. He also pleaded guilty to a fourth charge from 2017, but has put forward an application to the courts to have the plea struck.
It’s not clear how many witnesses the defence plans to call, or when Pritchard will take the stand in his own defence.