Sudbury crown: 'The only thing that's missing here is the actual grabbing of the child'
35-year-old is facing 10 charges, including counselling someone to abduct a child
A Sudbury judge is now deciding whether Michael Tomasik planned to abduct and sexually assault a child or if he only talked about it.
Friday saw the closing arguments in the trial against the 35-year-old Sudbury man who is facing 10 charges, including counseling someone to abduct and sexually assault a child, and arranging to have sex with a minor.
Assistant crown attorney Julie Lefebvre recounted how Tomasik discussed having sex with children with people on web sites and with Sudbury prostitutes going back as far as 2007.
"The plan in his mind is so important he was willing to give up his liberty...and forgo the harm it would cause to others to accomplish it," she said.
Tomasik repeatedly stated in court that this was always just "sexual role play" and never something he intended to follow through.
But Lefebvre argued that text messages to a prostitute in January 2014 outlined a complete plan, including where and when it would happen, which girl they would target and what they would do to her.
"The only thing that's missing here is the actual grabbing of the child," said Lefebvre.
"It never went beyond their conversations."
But defence lawyer Darren Berlinguette argued that the girl being discussed was only a "template" based on a five-year-old the prostitute knew and that the other details were never cemented, meaning there was never a conclusive plan to kidnap a child.
"There's no specific plan. There's no specific where or when," he said.
Berlinguette also pointed out that while Tomasik and the prostitute do negotiate a price of $500 for abducting a child and having sex with her, the money never exchanged hands, meaning the contract was never real.
"Despite all these text messages...the only money that's exchanged is the $40 for sex," he said.
Even if Tomasik believed it to all be part of a role play, Justice Patricia Hennessy wondered is the prostitute might go through with it anyway.
"Is he prepared to be reckless, let the chips fall where they may and maybe she'll do it?" she asked.
"It never went beyond their conversations," Berlinguette stressed.
Hennessy will now deliberate on the evidence. A date has not yet been set for her to deliver her verdict.