GUELPH – Brian Cox has been found not guilty on all charges against him in a sexual assault trial.
Judge Matthew Stanley delivered his verdict to a full courtroom gallery in Guelph on Tuesday.
Stanley’s decision was met by silence.
Cox was charged with two counts of sexual assault against Janice Klinetobe and two counts of sexual assault, in addition to two counts of gross indecency, against Kristin Bax.
Klinetobe and Bax accused Cox of sexually assaulting them in their teens, between 1986 and 1991.
The three were introduced through membership in an insular religious group known as the “Two by Twos.”
Klinetobe and Bax separately came to work at Cox’s used car dealership, BJ’s Auto Sales, in Guelph.
The 69-year-old Puslinch man pleaded not guilty to the charges and took the stand in his trial, which began in March.
Defence lawyer Dean Paquette asked in July for Cox to be acquitted; assistant Crown attorney Marilyn Dolby suggested he be found guilty on all counts.
Stanley said there were problematic inconsistencies in the women’s testimony but said he did not accept the entirety of the evidence given by Cox either.
Evidence presented throughout the trial didn’t go far enough to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, resulting in Cox’s acquittal.
Paquette said he was confident about the outcome.
The acquittal is “very important for Brian and his future, his reputation,” Paquette said, and should demonstrate to people “rooting against Brian” in the courtroom that “perhaps things are not as they first perceived them to be.”
“I don’t know how any judge on this case, hearing all the evidence, could come to another conclusion,” Paquette said.
Cox told the Advertiser he’s “grateful for the wisdom of the judge” but said people on the other side of the case are “mad” and “will never change their mind about the verdict.”
“I just have to continue to get on with my life here,” he said, adding, “everybody treats you different … it’s just a nightmare for me.”
Klinetobe and Bax stood before a group of 28 supporters, including current and former Two by Twos members, gathered at the Bar Mason in Guelph on Tuesday afternoon.
Bax shared her doubts about the justice system and read from prepared remarks.
“I am not a victim, but I am victorious,” she said.
“No matter the outcome of this trial … I can speak my truth without shame,” she continued.
“Through some of the hardest moments that life can bring, I have found true friends and I have found a community of kindness unlike anything I’ve ever known.”
Klinetobe, also reading from prepared remarks, said the day marked “a new beginning.”
“Burdens that have weighed me down for decades are laid down – my truth is out,” she said.
“I [am] stronger than I ever thought I was.”
The two women thanked the group and embraced to applause.
