N.L. man not guilty of sex charges, judge cites inadequate police investigation

A judge in Newfoundland and Labrador has acquitted a man of six counts, including rape and sexual abuse, citing insufficient investigations by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

In a ruling released Friday, Supreme Court Justice Glenn Noel said he was also concerned about the lack of corroborating evidence to support the charges against Yousef Tsafamichael.

The effect of the verdict on the plaintiff

Noel acknowledged that this sentence may cause "re-injury" and "re-victimization" of the plaintiff, who was a minor at the time of the incident.

Weakness in research

According to the judge's written decision, the burden of proof was on the prosecutors, but they failed to conclusively prove the case against Tsafamichael. Noel added that the police made no attempt to verify the exact timing of the events reported by the complainant, nor did they attempt to retrieve the images allegedly sent by the accused to the complainant's phone.

Other consequences

The government is said to have granted Tsafamichael a license to operate the province's first internet taxi company, but the license was revoked days later after local media outlet VOCM published news of the allegations.

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