Man facing 88 charges in Kingston sexual assault trial takes the stand
Michael Haaima, 42, began his defence this week in a lengthy Kingston trial involving sexual assault, trafficking and child pornography charges.
Kingston accused denies sexual assault and child pornography charges as defence opens
Michael Haaima, 42, stepped into the witness box for the first time this week in a Kingston, Ontario trial that has been under way for nearly a year and a half, cbc.ca reports. Haaima is facing 88 charges, among them sexual assault involving weapons, human trafficking, accessing child pornography, and compelling a person to commit bestiality.
Eight charges against Haaima were stayed earlier in the week after two complainants chose not to continue. He had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a non-contact order while in custody. The identities of all complainants are protected by a publication ban.
Haaima is expected to be the sole witness called by defence lawyer Natasha Calvinho in the judge-alone trial. He has been in custody since his arrest in 2022.
Childhood and denials
At the start of his testimony on Thursday, Haaima told the court he was feeling anxious. "It's been a long time inside," he said.
He began by recounting his childhood and adolescent years, describing abuses he says he experienced, including sexual assaults at a young age. He spoke of spiralling into drug and alcohol use, skipping school, and moving between homes after his parents separated. He became emotional while discussing his father's death from lymphoma, and also described overcoming addiction to crack cocaine and other hard drugs.
His testimony then turned to his interactions with the women and girls named in the charges. Several of the complainants were teenagers at the time of the alleged offences. Haaima denied ever forcing anyone to have sex or committing sexual assault.
He did acknowledge entering into a relationship with a teenager when he was 23. "She told me she was 15 turning 16 in a couple weeks," he told the court. He faces a charge of being in a sexually exploitative relationship with a young person in connection with that case. He also denied recognising some of those who had testified against him, including a witness who stated the two had sex while she was underage.
Most serious charges addressed on Friday
On Friday, Haaima faced questioning on the most severe counts in the indictment. These included accessing, making and transmitting child pornography; allegedly forcing a complainant to engage in sexual acts with a person under the age of 16; and compelling a woman to commit bestiality.
"I have never played child pornography in my entire life," Haaima said in response to the pornography charges.
On the allegation involving a person under 16, Haaima acknowledged that three people engaged in sexual acts on more than one occasion, but said he and the adult woman believed the girl was 18. He described the encounters as consensual and denied filming them.
He denied the bestiality allegation and rejected a claim that he asked one complainant to recruit teenagers for him to have sex with. The only count he admitted to on Friday was one charge of paying for sexual services.
His testimony is scheduled to continue next week.
Source: Google News JM — Kingston