Law360 Canada ( March 10, 2025, 9:55 AM EDT) -- Appeal by Crown for leave to appeal summary conviction appeal judge’s (SCAJ) decision and appeal to have the convictions restored against SS for sexual assault and sexual interference against his former girlfriend's daughter, JP. SS and JP’s mother lived together. JP considered SS as a father and SS considered JP as his daughter. JP’s mother and SS separated. JP would sleep at SS’s home when her mother worked night shifts. However, JP testified that SS touched her inappropriately in her private parts several times at his place and at her mother’s new residence. SS denied any kind of inappropriate touching. SS argued that JP made the complaint to the police only after being “forced” to so do by her mother. The Crown elected to proceed by summary conviction. The trial proceeded and the trial judge convicted SS of the offences. The trial judge also found SS and his partner CN not credible for providing false testimony. He sentenced SS to 20 months' imprisonment for the sexual assault and 12 months of probation. SS appealed both the conviction and sentence, alleging that the trial judge misapprehended evidence which caused him to improperly conclude that SS and CN gave false testimony. The summary conviction appeal judge (SCAJ) overturned the convictions, finding that the trial judge misapprehended the evidence and wrongly concluded that SS and CN gave false testimony, deeming the verdicts unreasonable. However, the Crown sought leave to appeal the decision of the SCAJ. It sought to have the convictions restored and the matter remitted to the summary conviction appeal court to address the sentence appeal. SS filed a cross-appeal on the basis that if the convictions were restored, the sentence appeal should also be addressed by the court....