Crown will not seek appeal of world junior sexual assault acquittal

Crown prosecutors will not file a notice of appeal in the high-profile world junior sexual assault trial after five men were acquitted last month, Global News has learned.

Crown prosecutors will not file a notice of appeal in the high-profile world junior sexual assault trial after five men were acquitted last month, Global News has learned.

The Crown had 30 days to notify the Court of Appeal for Ontario if it would seek a challenge of Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia’s July 24 acquittal of Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote.

Several lawyers involved in the case told Global News they received confirmation Thursday that the Crown will not be appealing the verdict. A spokesperson for the appeal court also told Global News it has not received a notice of appeal.

The Crown’s right to appeal is more restricted than someone found guilty of a crime, the Ontario government’s website indicates. To appeal an acquittal, the Crown must show there was a significant error of law that had a substantial impact on the acquittal, it said.

The men, who were each charged with sexual assault in January 2024, were acquitted by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia last month following a trial that began in late April in London, Ont. McLeod was also found not guilty of being party to the offence of sexual assault.

In her July 24 ruling, Carroccia said the Crown couldn’t “meet its onus” on any of the charges before her. The five men were accused of engaging in non-consensual group sex with a then-20-year-old woman in June 2018.

“In this case, I have found actual consent not vitiated by fear. I do not find the evidence of E.M. to be either credible or reliable,” said Carroccia of the female complainant, known as E.M. in court documents as her identity is protected under a standard publication ban.

“With respect to the charges before this court, having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial on the whole, I conclude the Crown can not meet its onus on any of the counts before me.”