EDMONTON — A boy has been given a six-month conditional discharge for grabbing the breasts and buttocks of a girl in an Edmonton-area high school and trying to kiss her.
Youth court Judge Danielle Dalton sentenced the youth on Thursday and, if he meets certain conditions, his sexual assault conviction will be erased after one year.
Court heard the boy, now 16, did not know the 15-year-old girl he approached in the school's hallway.
He fondled her before pushing her into a locker, grabbing her again and running his hands across her body before trying to kiss her.
The teen was initially acquitted, but in July a Court of Queen's Bench justice overturned the decision and convicted the boy.
The justice said the original judge had erred in interpreting and applying the law of consent, which she called “not a difficult concept.”
"Consent means 'yes.' The word 'no' does not mean 'yes.' The word 'No' — coupled with fending off an attacker with a water bottle — does not mean 'yes.' There is nothing ambiguous about it," Justice Juliana Topolniski said in her ruling.
The victim told the judge at the sentencing that she didn't want her victim impact statement released publicly. The judge agreed, saying it might further victimize her.
