BY KEITH LACEY
A social worker at a Sudbury group home has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old female resident on two separate occasions last July.
Andrea Roy, 34, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation, but was found not guilty of another count of sexual exploitation.
Following a brief trial this summer, Justice William Fitzgerald rendered his decision and verdict during a lengthy one-hour judgment Thursday.
A date for Roy?s sentencing hearing will be set next week.
Fitzgerald ordered a publication ban on any evidence that could reveal the identity of the complainant.
The girl testified she visited Roy?s apartment on July 24, 2004 to celebrate her 14th birthday. She and Roy had developed a special bond at the group home where Roy worked as a counsellor, she said.
She received more hugs and got more special attention from Roy than other girls at the group home, she said.
The night of her 14th birthday, the girl said Roy took her to a movie, bought pizza and invited her to stay at her apartment.
They watched a rental movie and she was about to fall asleep on an air mattress in the living room, she said.
But Roy commented she wouldn?t be upset if she slept in her bed rather than the air mattress.
The girl ended up in Roy?s bed and within minutes they were cuddling and later they kissed and fondled each other?s breasts, she said.
When Roy inserted her finger near the girl?s private area, the mood changed and she became physically ill. The girl ended up taking a shower, which was corroborated by other witnesses.
A second incident took place in a vehicle outside a coffee shop two days later when Roy fondled her breasts, she said.
Fitzgerald ruled he found the complainant?s testimony consistent, credible and reasonable. Defence counsel William Beach?s suggestion that the girl
was flippant, disrespectful, rude and inconsistent was not his impression at all, said the veteran judge.
Roy?s assertions she never touched the girl in a sexually aggressive manner were not believable, said Fitzgerald.
Roy denied being alone with the girl at the group home, when several staff members testified they saw them together behind closed doors with the lights off, said Fitzgerald.
Group home staff all knew they were never to be alone behind closed doors with residents, said Fitzgerald.
Considering all the evidence, Fitzgerald said he?s convinced Roy was fabricating evidence and the girl was telling the truth, he said.
?I?m unable to accept the denial of the accused as credible...and will treat as an after fact fabrication,? he said.
