Former Homeless Foundation board member accused of teen sex assault says trial a 'recipe for disaster'

There was courtroom dramaWednesday involving a former Calgary Homeless Foundation board member who is accused of supplying homelessteens with drugs and sexually assaulting them.

Robin Wortman is on trial on chargesinvolving sexual assault, child exploitation and drug trafficking in meth and GHB.

Wortman, 64, has been through eight lawyers and multiple trial adjournment applications and last week, he showed up at courtwith adisbarred Edmonton defence lawyer.

Before presenting the Crown's opening statement, prosecutor Donna Spaner told the judge that Shawn Beaver was in the courtroom with Wortman on Friday when the accused made a third adjournment application.

She said Wortman confirmed two emails from the accountrobinwortmandefence@gmail.com were written by Beaver and sent to prosecutors. The Law Society of Alberta has been notified, said Spaner.

Beaver was disbarred in 2017 for stealing from clients' trust accounts. He found himself in trouble with the law society again in April after he was accused of secretly practising law again.

• Disbarred Edmonton lawyer accused of secretly practising law again

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Blair Nixon said he would take some time to consider how to handle the Beaver situation.

On Wednesday, Wortman repeatedly called himself an "involuntary self-represented accused person" and said he wants time before trial starts every day to "share frustrations" with the judge.

He was also unsuccessful in another application to adjourn the trial and complained about his lack of access to the alleged child pornography that is restricteddisclosure.

"This is a recipe for disaster," Wortman told Nixon.

After the judge told Wortmanthe trial would proceed,prosecutor Sarah Goard-Baker presented the Crown's opening statement.

She outlined theCrown's theory that Wortman befriended teenage boys who were drug addicted, homeless and vulnerable before targeting them sexually.

'Father-like presence'

Wortman became a "father-like presence" and supplied the boys with shelter, food and drugs, then "he began to groom them for a sexual purpose," the Crown alleges.

"Mr. Wortman was able to exploit the vulnerability of these young people," said Goard-Baker.

Two of Wortman's alleged victims are expected to testify that the accused offered them drugs and money in exchange for their participation in sexual acts, according to prosecutors.

Videos of teens engaged in sex were seized from Wortman's electronic devices, said Goard-Baker.

Since he was initially charged in 2017, Wortman has burned through eight different defence lawyers at a rate of about one every three or four months.

Wortman's trial history

He's been through three other trials and is back out on bail after serving hissentences.

In 2017,Wortmanwas found not guilty of raping a homeless teen even though the judge said she did not believe his testimony. During the trial, Wortman admitted to doing drugs with teens who were 50 years his junior.

Last September,Wortmanwas found guilty of four breach charges for attending an event where children were present, using theinternetand for having a cellphone.

In January, Wortman was convicted of obstruction of justice and breaching two no-contact orders for trying to convince one of his alleged victims to recant his evidence to police while the two were both being held at the Calgary Remand Centre.