A man has been convicted of sexual assault and voyeurism against an underage girl in the NWT between 2009 and 2020.
Justice Karin Taylor found Justin Minute, 39, guilty of the crimes in NWT Supreme Court on August 28.
She acquitted Minute, who has lived in Fort Smith and Hay River, of a third charge of luring a child related to text messages he had sent the girl.
Any information that could identify the complainant – who is now a young woman – is protected by a publication ban.
During a four-day trial earlier this summer, she testified that Minute had hugged her and touched her lower back in a way that made her uncomfortable and made sexual jokes to her.
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The woman further testified about an occasion where she was using a bathroom and saw Minute’s phone with the camera turned on and pointed toward the shower.
Minute’s former partner testified that he had confessed to committing the crimes to her.
In text messages and recorded phone calls between Minute and the woman, he said he ought to be in jail and expressed feeling bad.
Minute denied all of the allegations against him.
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He testified that he had unintentionally left his phone in the bathroom and turned the camera on with his smartwatch in order to find it.
According to an agreed statement of facts, police analysis of Minute’s cell phone and Apple watch did not recover any photos depicting the bathroom.
Minute denied confessing to any crimes and said his statements in text messages and phone calls were due to him catastrophizing being wrongly accused.
Minute’s lawyer, Evan McIntyre, argued that while Minute’s text messages to the girl may have included some off-colour jokes and inappropriate comments, they were “a far cry from luring.”
A sentencing hearing for Minute has been scheduled for October 30.
