Trial of Cape Breton couple accused of sex crimes involving young girl to wrap up next week

The trial of a Cape Breton couple accused of sex crimes involving a young girl is expected to wrap up next week in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Port Hawkesbury.

Richmond County residents Daryl and Shelley Digout, who are representing themselves, have asked the judge for a few days to decide whether to call a witness or testify in their own defence.

The couple were initially charged with sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation involving a girl who was regularly in their care on weekends for spiritual training and Bible studies.

The prosecution finished presenting its case Friday after two days of testimony.

The case is subject to a publication ban on anything that could possibly identify the complainant.

This week, she told the court she started staying with the Digouts when she was about nine years old.

The girl said at one point, Daryl Digout placed his hands on her chest and prayed for larger breasts.

She said when she was 11 or 12, the Digouts persuaded her to join the couple in sex. The complainant said that happened in 2020.

Under questioning, she told the court she agreed to do it because the Digouts had been teaching her about marriage and procreation.

"I thought it was normal," she said. "I loved them."

The girl and other witnesses testified that she usually slept in a room separate from the Digouts when other children were present, but slept in the Digouts' bed whenever she was alone and felt scared.

The Digouts were not allowed to cross-examine the complainant because they are the accused in the case and are self-represented. Instead, legal aid lawyers appointed on the couple's behalf did.

The lawyers tried to poke holes in the girl's and the witnesses' testimony by exposing inconsistencies in the evidence and the timeline and suggesting the incidents never happened.

The lawyers also suggested the girl's family felt animosity toward the Digouts, which may have played a part in the complaint.

The Digouts are also charged with failure to appear, because they did not show up as required at the St. Peters RCMP detachment for fingerprinting after their initial arrest in 2023.

Police issued a public notice saying the pair was missing and issued another news release the next month saying they had been found. 

This week, court was told the Digouts were found living in the woods on their property.

Meanwhile, the Crown has dropped the initial sexual exploitation charge, saying it usually involves youth who are older than the complainant was at the time of the alleged sexual assaults.

The judge has been asked to consider amending the charge to invitation to sexual touching, but that matter has not been decided.

The couple's first trial last fall was cut short when the judge declared a mistrial due to a personal conflict of interest. 

The new trial is being heard by Judge Paul Scovil.

The Digouts will be back in Port Hawkesbury court Wednesday to let Scovil know whether they intend to testify, call a witness or let the case rest on the Crown's evidence.

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