The defence attacked testimony given by children in the trial of Aleksandr Plehanov, a substitute teacher accused of sexually assaulting several students, as unreliable and inconsistent.
Plehanov's lawyer, Lisa Helps, said in her closing submissions Wednesday that some of the children talked amongst themselves about their teacher's alleged inappropriate behaviour before adults became involved. This, she argued, could taint their stories and added that it was concerning that some of the same language was used by the different children in the re-telling of the events.
Helps also questioned the testimony of one of the alleged victims, who came forward after police made a request to the public through the media seeking information.
"There are reliability issues with each of the children," she said. "Frailties in the child evidence can't be remedied by factual evidence. Direct cross-examination of the children leads to difficulties in this case."
The defence also had concerns with some of the testimony of school administrators, who had warned Plehanov about his boundary issues and even reprimanded him for inappropriate behaviour.
Administrators are trained to spot predators, Helps said, and that the warnings from district staff were more indicative of a teacher having difficulties controlling his classroom.
None of the district staff people who had issues with Plehanov's behaviour said his conduct was of a sexualized nature and only became concerned after the sex allegations occurred, she added.
"The carnal context has to be visible to a reasonable observer," she said. "There is nothing here that sexualizes the conduct or behaviour. There was nothing sexualized in this classroom."
Helps referred specifically to testimony given by Elspeth Anjos, a learning innovations co-ordinator with School District 43, who said on the stand she had on two occasions witnessed Plehanov pulling a student onto his lap.
Other teachers, Helps added, had also witnessed various acts that would have been "so brazen" if they were predatory.
"This is not conduct that is particularly hidden," Helps told the court. "Miss Anjos was in the class while this was going on."
Plehanov is facing five charges of sexual interference and five charges of sexual assault involving girls who were aged seven and eight at the time of the alleged incidents, which date back to January 2008. He is also facing a charge of criminal harassment in relation to two June 2010 incidents, when he was alleged to have been spotted sitting in his car outside of one of the girl's homes.
Helps did not concede that Plehanov was the man in the car on June 3 or 8, 2011 but said if it was him, it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he was not in the area by coincidence.
Plehanov's lawyer made her final submissions on Wednesday, a day after Crown prosecutor Wendy Van Tongeren made her closing statements.
Now that both sides have completed their cases, Judge David St. Pierre he did not expect to have a decision on the matter until the fall. He said a combination of summer holidays and other trials he is overseeing meant the verdict would take longer than usual.
