Man who sabotaged condoms guilty of sexual assault, top court rules

Goober

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Man who sabotaged condoms guilty of sexual assault, top court rules - The Globe and Mail

A Nova Scotia man who sabotaged condoms so he could keep his girlfriend from leaving him by getting her pregnant is guilty of sexual assault, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

The sabotage was an act of fraud that nullified the woman’s consent, four of the judges said, in reasons written jointly by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and Justice Thomas Cromwell of Nova Scotia. Citing earlier rulings in which men and women did not tell their sex partners they had HIV, the virus that causes AIDs, the four judges said that the key issue is whether the dishonesty poses a risk of serious harm – not necessarily physical harm.

Three other judges, all from Ontario, offered a different set of reasons for why the man was guilty, focusing on the right to determine how sexual activity takes place. The first four judges criticized that approach, saying it would leave people uncertain about what was criminal and what wasn’t in private behaviour, and could lead to women being charged with sexual assault for lying about using a diaphragm.

The case involved a Nova Scotia man who poked holes in condoms and got his girlfriend pregnant. She had an abortion, and when he told her what he had done, she went to police.

The case has been before the courts for seven years. Craig Hutchinson was acquitted at his first trial, but the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned that finding and he was convicted at his second trial, a verdict upheld by the appeal court by a 4-1 count.

The dissenting judge on that appeal court argued the case pushed protection of women’s autonomy too far, and that a guilt finding would lead to increased and unwarranted criminalization —including of women who lie about being on the Pill in hopes of becoming pregnant.

The Nova Scotia government argued that societal umbrage at the man’s behaviour is not enough; it demands a criminal prosecution because the criminal law needs to protect equality, dignity and autonomy.
 

Goober

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Charging makes sense as long as the judges at conviction use some discretion in sentencing. The results of doing such sabotage could have some really serious consequences.

She was forced to have an abortion. Many studies have demonstrated the negative emotional and metal impact that this causes on a substantial number of women, if not now, later.
 
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gerryh

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She was forced to have an abortion


No she wasn't. You could say she was forced to get pregnant. She didn't have a "real" choice in that, but she had a choice as to have an abortion or not.
 

Goober

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No she wasn't. You could say she was forced to get pregnant. She didn't have a "real" choice in that, but she had a choice as to have an abortion or not.

Nope. She made every effort not to become pregnant. Well excepting celibacy. He knew that she did not want to be pregnant, he attempted to coerce her. This would have been a life changing event. And single women, with children are at the bottom of the economic ladder.
I am not in many cases pro abortion, but it is up to the woman.
 

gerryh

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Nope. She made every effort not to become pregnant. Well excepting celibacy. He knew that she did not want to be pregnant, he attempted to coerce her. This would have been a life changing event. And single women, with children are at the bottom of the economic ladder.
I am not in many cases pro abortion, but it is up to the woman.


Did I say anything one way or the other about abortion in particular? No, I didn't. I just stated that she DID have a choice at that point. She wasn't "forced" to have an abortion. She could have carried on with the pregnancy and had the baby, kept it, or adopted it out. She had choices. At that point she wasn't "forced" to do squat.
 

Nuggler

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She made her choice and she has to live with it. Whatever, it was her choice and she made it. Good for her.

He goes to prison. Fits him well.
 

Goober

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Did I say anything one way or the other about abortion in particular? No, I didn't. I just stated that she DID have a choice at that point. She wasn't "forced" to have an abortion. She could have carried on with the pregnancy and had the baby, kept it, or adopted it out. She had choices. At that point she wasn't "forced" to do squat.
I disagree. He attempted to coerce her by getting her pregnant. He wanted to bind her to him thru the child she was carrying. I give her the benefit of the doubt on terminating the pregnancy. Why, she made every effort not to become pregnant.
He tried to force her, against her will into a long term relationship.
Yes she could have had the child. But as mentioned it is her choice.
 

damngrumpy

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Some Beach should spend lots of time in jail. These misfits who try to control
people especially in relationships should pay a lot more than they do.