Langford man convicted of sexual assault wins new trial

A Langford businessman who was convicted of sexually abusing an employee five years ago has won the right to a retrial.

Kyle Christopher Mostowy was found guilty on May 7, 2019, of sexual assault in connection with six incidents that occurred between April 1 and June 30, 2014.

Mostowy had already been convicted in January 2016 of five counts of sexual assault against five other female employees. The incidents occurred in 2010 and 2011.

After his arrest and release on these charges in 2012, one of the conditions he was given was that he was not allowed to employ women in his company.

Following media coverage of the first trial – which resulted in a conviction in 2016 – another employee reported to police that Mostowy had sexually abused her between April 1 and June 30, 2014, leading to charges of sexual assault and breach of conditions against Mostowy.

The latter allegation arises from the fact that the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban and who is identified only as BF, was employed by Mostowy’s construction company at the time of submission to the conditions.

In preliminary hearings before the second trial, the judges expressed their “grave concern” that the charge of breach of conditions could influence a jury against Mostowy because it would be tantamount to a conviction for another crime, Justice Mary E. Saunders wrote in the British Columbia Court of Appeal decision.

Prosecutors and Mostowy’s defense attorney told the judges that through BF’s testimony, the jury would learn about his previous convictions.

Before the jury reached its decision, the judge ordered Mostowy to be acquitted of the charge of violating his bail conditions. The charge was not clear-cut, as there were different interpretations as to whether he was prohibited from employing women anywhere – including on construction sites or only in his home office.

Mostowy appealed his second conviction, arguing that the judge erred in not trying the two charges separately and that he received inadequate assistance from his lawyer, resulting in an unfair trial and a miscarriage of justice.

A three-judge panel of the British Columbia Court of Appeal in a May 28 ruling allowed Mostowy’s appeal on the grounds that he had received inadequate legal assistance. His defence lawyer had failed to request a separate trial of the charges, which amounted to a miscarriage of justice, Saunders wrote in the decision.

Mostowy was sentenced to three years in prison for five counts of sexual assault, nine months after the second trial. He was ordered to pay one of the victims nearly a million dollars after she sued him.

In a victim impact statement at his second conviction, BF described her life as being marked by anger, fear and uncertainty following the attacks.

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