A B.C. Supreme Court Justice has found a Prince George man guilty of sexually interfering with a four-year-old girl.
In reaching his decision Friday at the Prince George courthouse, Justice James Williams said he found the girl's testimony to be credible and did not believe the man's allegation that he was a victim of a serious misinterpretation.
Williams found the incident occurred in July 2013 when the man, a then-family friend who cannot be identified under a court-ordered publication ban against information that could identify the victim, had stayed overnight at a cabin owned by the girl's family at one of the lakes outside Prince George.
The next day, as she was returning to Prince George with her family, she asked that he not come back to the cabin. That, combined with her comment that she felt pain from the incident, played a significant role in convincing Williams that the girl's account held a "compelling aura of truthfulness about it."
"All of that to my mind lends weight to the view that this very strange thing happened to her and she was trying to find a way to protect herself from any re-occurence," Williams said after recounting the details of what the girl told police and the court.
The families of the man and of the girl were in the gallery to hear Williams' decision.
The man, who showed no emotion when the verdict was issued, will remain out on bail until sentencing occurs following completion of a pre-sentence report with a psychological component.
