Predator clear in new case
Photo: Facebook
Regis Palmer
Warning: This story involves descriptions of child sex assault. Reader discretion is advised.
An Okanagan man who was previously sent to jail for sexually abusing a foster child in 2023 was found not guilty of charges relating to sexual assault.
According to a recently published Supreme Court decision, Regis Patrick Palmer was before Justice Maegen M. Giltrow in early March, accused of assaulting a 67-year-old man with developmental delays, whom Castanet will refer to as D.L.
The charge related to reports of assault from Jan 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, in the Oliver area.
When the trial started, a no-evidence motion had already been brought forward for the second count of exploitation, and an acquittal was entered.
D.L. testified that Palmer had sexually assaulted him four times at Palmer’s apartment.
He testified that he had been raped by the accused three or four times, and this list included four times at the accused’s apartment, on the bike trail, on Sawmill Road, and by the high school. The list of outdoor spaces expanded as D.L. continued in his testimony.
These claims involved anal intercourse, touching D.L.’s penis or causing D.L. to touch Palmer’s penis.
The defence for Palmer argued that he did not challenge D.L.’s sincerity, but that his evidence was not reliable.
The judge agreed, as they were left with a reasonable doubt about his guilt.
The judge wrote in the decision that there were contradictions with D.L.’s evidence of not only the number of times he was in the apartment, but also his evidence of sexual assault there.
The judge said they were also unable to determine a clear picture of the claims of the series of sexual assaults that happened in various outdoor locations.
Palmer denied that any of the alleged sexual acts happened or that he asked D.L. to engage in sexual activity.
He testified that he met D.L. at a pool in Penticton, and he has known D.L. for several years and that they were friends.
Palmer said they would go biking, but he only came into the apartment once to use the bathroom.
“The accused’s evidence has left me with a reasonable doubt about his guilt. The shortcomings and the reliability of D.L.’s evidence prevent D.L.’s evidence from overcoming the reasonable doubt that Mr. Palmer’s evidence has left me with,” Justice Giltrow said in the decision.
Giltrow acquitted Palmer of the charge.
