GRAPHIC WARNING: This article contains mature content and graphic details. Discretion advised.
A 50-year-old Raymond man, who cannot be named under a court publication ban, appeared in Lethbridge court Thursday, facing six total charges: four of sexual assault and two of indecent assault.
His lawyer invited convictions on three of the sexual assault charges, and one of indecent assault, but the Crown did not agree, indicting it is still seeking convictions on all six counts, involving four alleged victims.
According to the Crown, the accused would get the victims alone — one of whom was only five years old at the time of the alleged assault — then remove their clothes and perform oral sex on them but was never touched by the girls.
The accused has previously admitted to touching two of the girls on multiple occasions, but testified he only tried once to inappropriately touch the third girl, and denied touching the fourth.
The Crown stated it is seeking jail time for the accused.
However, since the alleged assaults occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, the defence argued that the man not be sentenced under the current Youth Criminal Justice Act, but rather under the Juvenile Delinquent Act or the Young Offenders Act, which was the legislation at the time.
The judge stated that he would consider all of the arguments and decide which convictions will move forward. That decision is expected in February and sentencing is not expected until sometime late May.
Since the accused and the victims were underage at the time of the alleged offences, their names will not be released.
Charges were laid back in 2016 when a woman came forward saying she was sexually abused as a child by a man she knew. Three other women then came forward. The alleged acts happened in Diamond City, on a farm in the 1980s.