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An Ottawa man broke his infant son’s ankles in September 2014, then sexually assaulted his five-year-old stepdaughter during his long wait for trial, a court has heard.

Details of the horrific case emerged last week in an Ottawa courtroom where the man, a 24-year-old security guard, pleaded guilty to four crimes: assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault, invitation to sexual touching and possession of child pornography.

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He cannot be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban to protect the children involved.

The man was originally arrested in December 2014, charged with assaulting his month-old son, and released from custody.

But the case took so long to reach trial that a judge threw out the charge against him in November 2016, saying the almost two-year delay offended his constitutional right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Months earlier, the Supreme Court decision in R. v. Jordan had set tough new limits for trial delays.