TheStar.com | GTA | Boyfriend of pregnant teen acquitted
Wednesday, July 30, 2008 | Today's Toronto Star | Login
Photos
Video
Columnists
Blogs
Podcasts
RSS
Mobile
Newsletters
Alerts
thestar.com Web find a Business
Advanced Search | Full Text Article Archive
DEATH NOTICES
CAREERS
CLASSIFIEDS
HOME NEWS OPINION BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING TRAVEL WHEELS HEALTHZONE YOURHOME PARENTCENTRAL
Toronto & GTA | Ontario | Canada | World | Comics | Contests | Crosswords | Horoscopes | Lotteries | Sudoku | TV Listings | StarAuctions
TheStar.com | GTA | Boyfriend of pregnant teen acquitted
Boyfriend of pregnant teen acquitted
DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR
Noellee Mowatt leaves court in a green prison jumpsuit with her lawyer, Lydia Riva, after being released on bail, April 11, 2008.
Print
Choose text size
License this article
Pregnant teen who recanted assault testimony lacks credibility, judge rules, as pair set free young teen porn to reconcile
May 31, 2008 04:30 AM
Michele Henry
Crime Reporter
A look of shock, mingled with glee, crept across Christopher Harbin's face yesterday after a judge found him not guilty of beating up his pregnant girlfriend, a 19-year-old who was jailed just to make sure she would testify against him.
"I'm just so happy this is over and done with," said Harbin, 26, after reading Justice Beverly Brown's decision to acquit him. "I'm just ecstatic. I just want to go home."
He was facing eight charges, including nn teen model assault with a weapon, uttering death threats and forcible confinement, after his girlfriend told police in a videotaped statement that he punched her, stabbed at her toe with a knife and threatened to kill her unborn baby.
But when she took the witness stand, Noellee Mowatt recanted her original testimony. She said bruises on her face and neck weren't caused by fists and weapons, but by bug bites and her own ineptitude. Her face turned black and blue, she said, from sleeping on something hard and the gash on her toe was from banging her foot against a door.
Brown ruled that Mowatt's lies to police set off a chain of events leading to the arrest and jailing of her boyfriend for five months and destroyed her credibility as a witness.
"I find I cannot really believe anything Ms. Mowatt says latin teen tease in relation to these events," Brown said in her written decision. "Her credibility has been irreversibly tainted in this case by the extreme inconsistencies in her versions."
Mowatt was arrested on a bench warrant earlier this year after a judge decided she would ignore a subpoena to appear in court. With no criminal record, except shoplifting charges pending, she was held at Vanier Centre for Women in Milton for 10 art photo teen model days. While in detention, she said she didn't want to testify and wished her boyfriend would walk out of court a free man.
Mowatt, who delivered the couple's first child on mature teen lesbian Monday, a girl named Naelle, was planning to resume her life with Harbin. Despite reports the Children's Aid Society was going to seize the baby, Melanie Persaud of CAS said there are no plans to do so. Any concerns the CAS had a few months ago no longer exist, she said, but workers are constantly assessing situations.
"If the child is at risk we'll bring her into our care," Persaud said. Harbin, who will not be released from custody until he answers to unrelated criminal charges in Barrie, said he's looking forward to raising his child and reconciling with Mowatt.
"I love her," he said. "Absolutely."
More in the news
Tories push crime agenda Report urges province to tighten tap on moraine Unhappy hour for British pubs L.A. earthquake sends office workers fleeing After 84 years, Hadassah runs its last bazaar SIU probe spurred by Star story Tow firms cry foul at fuel prices Weekend gunshot victim dies Mom guilty of perjury at son's bail hearing Drug move endangers seniors, lawyer says
Recent special sections Desi Life summer issue Golf 2008 Do It! summer guide HDTV Digital Photo Diabetes
More Specials
MOST POPULAR ON THESTAR.COM
Most Read
Most Emailed
Video shows NY cop shoving cyclist
LCBO blamed bell sisters teen lauren bell for job cuts at Toronto glass-maker
Tree falls in High Park, 2 taken to hospital
Worker falls to death in Halton Hills
Store owner calling it quits
Halal food monitor riles sellers
Scrabble knockoff suspended retro teen fucking on Facebook
Fighting teen model tgp hunger with cassava
Carpets woven with fabric of war
Pair report brush with sasquatch
SPECIAL
It's Costner's vote that counts
When a big Hollywood studio didn't seem interested in making his new movie, Swing Vote, Kevin Costner ...
Last goodbye
This reader was in a fender bender in Beijing on the way to the airport and wondered if he'd make his plane.
Beijing street food
It was street food nirvana: a smoky evening in northwest Beijing, two years ago. A half-dozen restaurants had erected patio furniture ...
More Specials
TheStar.com Corrections | Contact Webmaster | FAQ | Site Map | RSS | Desi Life
Toronto Star About Us | Subscribe | Subscriber Self Services | Contact Us | News Releases | Star Internships | nude teen pictures Careers at the Star
Advertise With Us Media Kit | Online Advertising | Print Advertising | Special Sections
Initiatives Santa Claus Fund | Fresh Air Fund | Classroom Connection
Torstar Sites toronto.com | ourfaves.com | Pages of the Past | Star Store & Photo Sales | New In Homes | More...
© Copyright Toronto Star 1996-2008 Terms & Conditions | Privacy Code |
