Charges against a man accused of inappropriately touching six teenaged girls at West Edmonton Mall’s water park in February 2017 were dismissed Friday morning.
BREAKING: All charges against Hajj Soleiman, previously accused of inappropriately touching six teenagers at WEM waterpark, have been dropped.
— Dan Grummett (@DGrummettCTV) July 6, 2018
On February 4, 2017, Hajj Soleiman, 41, was arrested and charged with six counts of sexual assault and sexual interference. He was accused of touching the six girls inappropriately while they swam.
Justice Joyce Lester questioned the strength of the evidence to prove Soleiman was the person who committed the sexual assaults. She also said there were testimony discrepancies about the alleged offender’s skin colour, facial hair and swim trunk colour.
“The circumstances of the identification are not conductive to an accurate description,” Lester said in court.
“Given he was observed in water or underwater, it would be difficult to accurately testify to these characteristics.”
Witnesses said offender had goggles (colour differed by witness). The accused was never observed wearing any goggles while exiting pool and police could not find any on Hajj Soleiman upon arrest. Judge says this is key.
— Dan Grummett (@DGrummettCTV) July 6, 2018
Surveillance photos were submitted as evidence. Soleiman was identified in them, but “inappropriate acts were not,” Lester said.
“The evidence given is credible and not weakened by the age of the complainants; however, the evidence also has to be a reliable. Given all the inconsistencies, it would be an injustice to convict Mr. Hajj Soleiman.”
With files from Dan Grummett
