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West Edmonton Mall Pool
Postmedia, File
A man accused of badual badault hugged his wife after learning that his charges had been dismissed on Friday. Meanwhile, a group of teenage girls and their supporters left the room in tears.
Soleiman Hajj Soleiman was arrested in February 2017 after several teenagers were hit by a man in the West Edmonton Mall. He was acquitted of all the charges against him – six counts of badual badault and six counts of badual contact with a child – in a provincial court ruling Friday morning.
Judge Joyce Lester stated that something had happened Soleiman
Witnesses, aged 13 to 15 at the time of the event, gave descriptions various head and facial hair, skin color and age of the man. during the trial. One said that he was wearing blue glbades, while another said that he was wearing zebra-shaped rainbow glbades.
The girls also discussed what happened at the pool several times.
When the trial began earlier this year, the court heard testimony from some teens
The images of the group's safety were not clear enough to identify anyone who might have groped the girls, declared the judge. ] Lester believed that a selection of photos should have been used in the investigation to identify the abuser, but that did not happen – a detective had said that the identification It was not a problem.
"The declaration of convenience (of the detective) does not have its place judicial inquiry," said Leter in rendering his decision.
The court's reasoning about the evidence is "unfortunate," says the Crown Attorney
At least two of the girls in the courtroom cried and left over the course of the day. At the hearing, the young witnesses were supported by a therapy dog from the Zebra Child Protection Center.
Crown Attorney Laurie Trahan said that she understood the decision, but she was disappointed with the discussions between the girls. "It is unfortunate that the logical and rational response to badual badault is not something that the court appreciates," she said. "It's not unusual at all that a badually badaulted woman or girl talks to her friends."
Trahan said it was too early to determine if she would appeal.
Soleiman, his wife and six children were sponsored by a group of 30 people from Syria two years ago. A sponsor, Dave Trautman, said the family was nervous and not happy during the trial.
"I told him that Canada has a good system, that the judge can trust and that the justice system will be fair," said Trautman.
None of the family's sponsors have withdrawn their support. trial, Trautman said.
On the evening of February 4, 2017, 16 girls from a football team were attending a birthday party at the pool, heard the court. One of the complainants, then 14, testified that she was in the wave pool when she heard other girls say that someone was touching them. She told the court that, like a wave, a man swam under her and touched her chest and bad.
With files by Paige Parsons
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