Mother not guilty of sexual assault against daughter

A P.E.I. woman has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting her daughter.

The case dates back to an incident 18 years ago, when the complainant was nine or 10 years old. She accused her mother of fondling her sexually when they were in bed together.

The identities of both women are under a court-imposed publication ban.

In her decision, Chief Justice Tracey Clements said there were a lot of inconsistencies in the account of the incident, and that made determining the truth of the matter difficult.

"These discrepancies do not make the complainant's testimony unreliable. These events happened 18 years ago," said Clements.

The judge said she found the complainant's testimonycompelling.

"However I am troubled and have several concerns with the reliability of her evidence," she said.

The question was not whether she believed the complainant, she said, but whether the Crown had proven its case.

Child custody in question

The defence had argued that the complainant made up the incident as part of a child custody battle between the two women.

Isaac Quinn said the two had been fighting over custody of a grandchild in recent years, and in particular who would receive the child tax benefit.

"I make no finding whether the complainant fabricated the allegations," said Clements.

"I am haunted by the prospect that the accused committed these offences against her daughter, and that she is now raising another child."

But she added she was also haunted by the prospect of convicting an innocent person, and said that the Crown had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

More P.E.I. news