Claudel Trudeau-Nepton.

By Chelsey St-Pierre
The Suburban

Robert Litvack, a former sports coach from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, accused of sexually assaulting a minor in 2021, tried to have the case thrown out based on the argument that he waited too long for the case proceedings to reach a trial. On Thursday, Quebec Court judge Jean-Jacques Gagné rejected the 43-year old’s request citing the Supreme Court of Canada’s established standard acceptable delay in provincial court cases set at 30 months. Litvack was less than two weeks short of the arguments made by his lawyer Claudel Trudeau-Nepton. The trial is set to begin in July.

Trudeau-Nepton argued that the delays put this case close to eight months over the established limit, however Justice Gagné eliminated certain periods from the calculation as it was not attributed to the Crown or institutional delays.

Shortly after Litvack was charged with touching a child under 16 for sexual purposes and sexual assault of a minor, Montreal police issued a press release in hopes of enabling other potential victims to come forward. Via his attorney, Litvack requested that the Crown turn over any related evidence that would justify the release. Significant delays took place as a result as the Crown prepared to move forward. Justice Gagné decided that since the delay was caused by the defence, the time period would be withdrawn from the calculation of overall delays related to Litvack’s request for dismissal. n