Sussex-area karate coach found guilty of all charges

WARNING: This story contains details of a sexual assault on a child.

Terrance Soucy was found guilty by a jury on Tuesday on all charges against him. 

It took the 12-member jury a little over four hours to find the 52-year-old Apohaqui man guilty of sexual assault, sexual touching and invitation to sexual touching. 

Soucy, who had appeared stoic throughout the trial, sobbed in the prisoner's box as family members in the front row cried, sobbed and hugged each other. 

Three sheriff's officers stood around the family and repeatedly asked for quiet as each juror was polled on each of the three charges. 

Soucy, who described himself in the witness box as a karate instructor and who's been involved in other youth sports in Sussex as a coach and organizer, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 12. He was remanded to jail until then. 

 Justice Arthur Doyle said the minimum sentence for each of the charges is one year in jail. 

Defence sees inconsistencies

In closing arguments Tuesday morning, defence lawyer Rod Macdonald went first and pointed out some inconsistencies in the testimony of Crown witnesses concerning dates.

He said jurors would have to decide whether what the young complainant said happened was "a physical impossibility."

A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the girl, who was under the age of 10 when the incidents occurred.

Macdonald also reminded jurors that the male DNA found on the girl's underwear did not match Soucy.

He asked jurors if they would want a family member of theirs to be convicted "on evidence like this." 

Crown says complainant never wavered

Crown prosecutor Michael Blackier began his argument by saying the complainant "never wavered" in identifying Soucy or what he did. He said the "peripheral issues" don't matter.

What matters, Blackier said, is that she said Soucy touched her private parts under her clothing. 

When she testified on Friday, the girl said Soucy touched her on four occasions, including three in quick succession beginning in June 2023.

All the assaults happened in the girl's home while she played a video game.

Differing dates

According to the testimony, the final incident occurred on Oct. 9, 2023. The victim said she was playing Roblox on a computer in the family's living room when Soucy came in and sat beside her. She said he put his hands down her pants and touched her private parts. 

Soucy stopped when a teenage family friend entered the room, the girl said.

While testifying last week, the teenage witness said she only saw Soucy pull back from the girl. She said she didn't see his hands on the girl or her hands on him. 

The teen originally told the RCMP investigator she saw Soucy and the girl together on Oct. 8, 2023, but testifying last week, she said it was Oct. 7.

Other witnesses said the Soucys were in the house on Oct. 7 and Oct. 9, but nothing inappropriate was alleged to have occurred on Oct. 7, when the teenage witness was present.

There was no mention of her having been at the house on Oct. 9, when the incident is alleged to have occurred.

Doyle told the  jury that children sometimes perceive the world differently than adults do, including dates and lengths of time. 

2 jurors sent home

In his two-hour charge to the jury, Doyle summarized the case and gave jurors instructions on how to apply the law to the case, including the difference between reasonable doubt and credibility. 

After his summation, Doyle sent the jury to begin deliberations, but not before dismissing two of them.

Fourteen jurors were sworn in on March 26, the first day of the trial. On Tuesday, Doyle explained that the Criminal Code sets the maximum number of jurors who can deliberate at 12.

With that, the clerk of the court reached into an envelope that contained 14 numbers and randomly selected two. Doyle then thanked the two jurors for their time and service and told them they were free to go.