3 northern Manitoba sex crime cases tossed due to delays in 2024

WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or who know someone affected by it. 

Three criminal cases were thrown out of Manitoba's courts in 2024 due to excessive delays — and each one involved men accused of sex crimes in the northern part of the province.

The three cases were connected to Flin Flon and two remote First Nations. Flin Flon is about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. The First Nations at South Indian Lake and Pukatawagan are not accessible by road all year round.

Judges cited delays by police in disclosing witness statements and evidence as among the reasons that ultimately resulted in each man's charges being stayed.

"Frankly, it's quite concerning in relation to the pursuit of justice in the north and in Indigenous communities in general," said Victoria Perrie, a Winnipeg lawyer who also works in Nunavut.

A 2016 ruling by the Supreme Court, known as the Jordan ruling, sought to address unreasonable delays in court by setting limits on the time between when a person is charged and the anticipated end of trial. For provincial cases, it's 18 months, while superior courts are allotted 30 months.

Perrie says while the charges were rightfully stayed in the three cases under the Charter right to a prompt trial, not having a verdict can create stigma for the accused in their communities and a lack of resolution for complainants.

"Systemic delays disproportionately harm marginalized communities," Perrie said. "For victims of sexual violence, this can perpetuate cycles of trauma, mistrust in the legal system and lack of closure."

Sexual crimes are already underreported — a Statistics Canada report from November says few sex assaults are reported to police and only a fraction result in charges or convictions. 

Indigenous women are more likely to face sexual assault in their lifetime but twice as likely to lack confidence in police as non-Indigenous women.

In one of the cases that were dismissed, a 28-year-old man was accused of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman, whom CBC is not naming because of a publication ban, in South Indian Lake, a fly-in community about 775 kilometres north of Winnipeg and the main settlement of O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation.

The man was arrested in October 2021, but police took over two years to give prosecutors witness statements needed for trial, which provincial court Judge Catherine Hembroff called "entirely inexcusable and quite frankly inexplicable."

"It is shocking that not one, but two trial dates, had to be adjourned because this basic disclosure had not been provided," Hembroff said.

Prosecutors had an obligation to be more "proactive and diligent" in following up with RCMP to get the witness statements, the judge said.