Sexual assault trial of former Montreal baseball coach hears closing arguments

Defence and Crown attorneys delivered their closing arguments Thursday astatine nan proceedings of Robert Litvack, a erstwhile shot coach from nan Montreal suburb of Dollard-des-Ormeaux.

Litvack, 44, is facing 2 charges: sexual assault and intersexual interference of a kid who was 13 successful 2021 erstwhile nan alleged incidents occurred. He was nan child’s backstage coach. Some of their meetings progressive nan coach massaging nan teen for sore limb muscles.

Defence lawyer Matthew Shadley said nan lawsuit comes down to whether nan accused had intersexual intent. He noted successful his closing remarks that during immoderate of nan sessions, nan teen was asked to little his underwear concisely truthful that Litvack could besides massage nan child’s buttocks, but that nan hips were exposed for a fewer seconds and only erstwhile they were being massaged.

In tribunal testimony, nan teen said astatine times it felt for illustration his hips were dispersed during nan massage of nan hips and it made him uncomfortable. But Shadley said his customer believes that if nan child’s hips were dispersed astatine immoderate clip during nan massage, it could person been accidental.

The lawyer based on that astatine nary clip did his customer effort to hide nan truth that he was massaging nan teen and location were nary intersexual discussions during nan sessions. He said Litvack astir apt should person had nan teen’s parents coming during nan massage sessions and that his client’s actions whitethorn person been unethical, but that they weren’t criminal. He said location is not capable grounds to show that Litvack meant nan massages to beryllium sexual.

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Crown charismatic Camille Boucher, connected nan different hand, said Litvack minimized his domiciled and liking successful nan teen’s life during his testimony, and that a adjacent narration had developed betwixt nan coach and nan teen. She pointed to nan galore hours that nan 2 spent together weekly, noting that their conversations went beyond conscionable baseball.

Boucher besides pointed retired that Litvack was a coach and not a massage therapist, and noted that nan accused had not sent nan teen to spot a master to woody pinch nan musculus soreness. She questioned nan request to massage nan teen’s buttocks, since it was nan legs that were sore — not nan buttocks. She said nan teen’s intersexual integrity was compromised, astatine nan very least.

The verdict is expected to beryllium handed down Sept. 3.