CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - A woman who testified her mother sexually abused her as a child says she felt betrayed after what happened.
The complainant took the stand in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown Monday for the first day of her mother’s trial on charges of sexual assault and sexual touching. Chief Justice Tracey Clements is hearing the trial.
Those charges relate to one alleged incident the complainant said happened when she was a child and had crawled into bed with her mother while there were people partying at their home.
During the complainant’s testimony, Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald asked her how the alleged incident made her feel.
“Like there was nobody I could trust,” she said.
The complainant cried at times throughout her testimony as she detailed what she said happened when she was around nine or 10 years old.
She told the court she came home from school one day to find her mother had people at their house partying.
The complainant said she went to her own room first, but when she heard her mother go to bed later she joined her.
It was there that the complainant said her mother fondled her after putting her hand inside her pants and underwear.
The complainant said she went to her mother’s room because she didn’t want someone from the party creeping into her room to take advantage of her while the person who was supposed to be protecting her was unconscious.
“I guess looking for safety from my mother was the wrong choice,” she said.
It was the only time her mother ever sexually abused her, the complainant told the court.
As the complainant continued her testimony, she said she brought it up with her mother many years later and her mother’s reaction at the time was a blank expression.
The complainant testified that as a child she lived with her mother and father separately on different occasions.
Her mother’s mental health and addiction issues determined where she lived, the complainant said.
The court heard the complainant has a daughter who has been living with the accused for almost four years.
The complainant first told child protective services about the allegations in 2015.
In an agreed statement of facts, the court heard child protective services investigated and determined no further protective involvement was needed in regard to the complainant’s daughter.
Under cross-examination, the complainant said she told child protective services about the allegations because she didn’t want her daughter or anyone else to get hurt.
Other witnesses on Monday included one of the complainant’s cousins who testified the woman told her about the alleged incident about 13 years ago.
The complainant’s brother also testified, saying she never told him about the alleged incident.
Two other witnesses testified they lived in the accused’s house at different times around the period when the complainant alleged the incident occurred.
The trial resumes Tuesday.
A publication ban prevents the release of any details that could identify the complainant.
