Mom allegedly coached girl in sex case
By Kevin Martin kevin.martin@calgarysun.com
January 17, 2009
CALGARY - Cops wrongly charged a Calgary dad with sexual abuse after his ex-wife coached their three-year-old daughter's complaint, a $900,000 lawsuit claims
And the lawyer for the dad says his client has now effectively lost his daughter since the mom has taken her to their native China."He may have lost the child forever," lawyer Robb Beeman told the Sun yesterday.
Beeman said police should have done a more thorough investigation before charging his client with sexual assault two years ago.
"It's one of those situations where if the police had done even a cursory exam, the warning bells should have gone off big time," Beeman said.
His client's statement of claim says the man was charged after the three-year-old gave a statement that was coerced by her mom and a friend of the mother's.
The two women "repeated a series of propositions to (the girl) suggesting (her father) had engaged in sexual conduct," the court document alleges.
"(They) threatened punishment and promised reward in an obvious effort to compel (her) to repeat and adopt these propositions." The statement was made in Mandarin in the presence of a Chinese-speaking police officer. "It's very obviously coached," Beeman said of the girl's statement. He said police should "know better than to let the friend of the mom do the questioning."
At one point during the interview, the friend, who was like an aunt to the child, told her if she didn't talk to police they wouldn't play with her any more, Beeman said. The lawsuit seeks damages for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and loss of reputation among others.
A statement of defence disputing the unproven allegations in the claim has not yet been filed
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