WARNING: This article contains details of alleged sexual abuse.
Crown prosecutor Deidre Badcock began her closing submissions on Tuesday with a scathing assessment of the man sitting behind her on the prisoner’s bench.
Tony Humby is charged with dozens of sexual crimes related to the alleged exploitation and abuse of vulnerable youth in a case that centred around a trailer park on the outskirts of St. John’s.
“It goes without saying, Mr. Humby picked the most vulnerable individuals to prey on,” Badcock said. “That is by design. He’s not going down Waterford Bridge Road. He’s not going to King William Estates.”
Instead, she said Humby targeted kids who grew up surrounded by problems like poverty, mental illness and addiction. Circumstances, Badcock argued, that were later used against them in court.
The trial has been ongoing for more than a year. It has been plagued by starts and stops, with delays at every turn. The court heard from 10 complainants who were all vulnerable teens when they allege they were sexually abused by Humby.
Many of them said they were given cash, alcohol or drugs in exchange for performing sex acts at Humby’s home on Hussey Drive.
Their evidence was picked apart by defence lawyer Mark Gruchy, both during testimony and in his closing submissions this week. He insisted each witness had serious problems with their reliability, and urged the judge not to take them at their word — which often varied from what they told police in previous interviews.
But Badcock said the court has to consider the effects of sexual trauma on the complainants, and how it can affect the ways they deal with difficult memories. The prosecutor referred to it as “incremental disclosures,” explaining why complainants often told the court more details than they’d provided to police.
“What [the defence] calls inaccuracies … the law recognizes as incremental disclosures in sexual assault cases,” she said.
Badcock also raised the issue of consent.
All of the victims alleged they had non-consensual sexual interactions with Humby, ranging from his hand brushing against the genitals of an intoxicated young man, to an allegation that Humby raped another young man while holding a gun.
Badcock urged the judge to contemplate the difference between giving consent, and simply acquiescing to the demands of a much older man who held power and influence over them.
One of the pillars of consent in a legal context is a person being able to understand they have the choice to refuse. Badcock said that is a key issue in the case against Humby.
“Most of these victims described that they did not have a choice,” she said. “Mr. Humby was holding the alcohol, the drugs, the money, the booze, the cigarettes, over their head. This is how you get these things. They are all addicts. That has the ability to overcome their ability to consent.”
Badcock began going through the key evidence given by each witness in the case, starting with a man who first went to police about Tony Humby in 2007 when he was 17.
The complainant had a rape kit collected and sat down with an investigator from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary after the alleged assault at Humby’s home in September of that year. He was later told no charges would be laid, and the rape kit was destroyed.
“He came forward as a disadvantaged youth and he was not believed,” Badcock said. “That sent him down a very dark path.”
Complainant in Tony Humby case says alleged 2007 assault led to drug use, years of trauma
Badcock and Gruchy both acknowledged the complainant was a bit of an outlier compared to most of the others, in that he didn’t have much of a pre-existing relationship with Humby.
In her closing submissions, Badcock said Humby learned a lesson from the 2007 case. She said he “extensively groomed” all the complainants who came after him in order to prevent them from going to police.
“He learned from his mistakes,” she said.
Badcock will continue with her closing submissions on Wednesday morning. The Crown and defence will then turn to a Jordan application, filed by the defence, which seeks to have the majority of the charges tossed due to repeated delays.
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
