WARNING: This story contains disturbing details involving sexual abuse of a child. The man charged with sexually assaulting three children in three different cities in the 1990s has taken the stand to testify in his own defense. Richard Neil’s trial began earlier this month in Brampton. He has pleaded not guilty to a total of 17 charges. The first incident happened in August 1992 in a wooded area near Idlewood Park in Kitchener, Ont. An 8-year-old boy told officers a man lured him into the woods, tied him to a tree and sexually assaulted him. The police investigation, known as “Project Woodland,” used DNA evidence to link that attack to two similar assaults: one involved a 10-year-old boy in Brampton in 1994 and a 15-year-old girl in Oakville in 1995. Neil was arrested in British Columbia in March 2024. He is now 67 years old. “The issue isn’t and hasn’t been ‘did this happen’… the issue has been, from the start, who is the individual responsible,” his lawyer Leo Adler told jurors before calling Neil to the stand. The Crown closed its case on Monday after calling numerous witnesses, including police officers from various services, experts in DNA and fingerprint evidence, as well as those who witnessed the aftermath of the attacks. Jurors also viewed police videos of the victims describing what happened to them. More to come. If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual assault or trauma, the following resources are available to support people in crisis:
