A man accused of enslaving a homeless man for almost 25 years and stealing his baby has been found not guilty of forcible confinement, but guilty of abducting a child under 14.

Gary Willett Sr. was also found guilty of assault and stealing Tim Goldrick’s monthly government disability cheques. He was acquitted of failing to provide the necessities of life.

Judge John McMahon delivered his verdict Friday to a courtroom at 361 University Ave. full of friends and family of the victim, who the Crown said has an “unspecified intellectual disability.”

Willett Sr.’s wife, Maria Willett, faces the same charges and is also charged with assaulting Goldrick’s partner and five children in their care. Her trial is set for September.

McMahon told court he found the accused “took advantage of a very simple man to take his monthly cheque for their own gain.”

He also said he didn’t find Willett Sr. to be a credible witness.

“I find the accused has a lengthy and continued history of dishonesty, deceit, committed fraudulent transactions to take a child and lied to police,” he told court.

Willett Sr. abducted Goldrick’s son Gary Willett Jr. by falsifying birth records at the hospital the day Willett Jr. was born in 1989, McMahon said. He raised Willett Jr. as his own and told the boy he was his father. Goldrick did not consent to this arrangement.

It wasn’t until Willett Jr. left home as a young adult that he took a paternity test only to discover Goldrick was his real father.

“It’s a relief knowing who my real parents are,” Willett Jr. said following the verdict, adding he’s satisfied with the judge’s decision.

Goldrick lived with the Willetts for more than 20 years, and in that time he was kicked and punched in the head and chest by Willett Sr., and was verbally abused, McMahon ruled. Willett Sr. treated Goldrick poorly and “like a servant,” McMahon said.

McMahon also said Willett Sr. stole all of Goldrick’s government disability cheques every month amounting to tens of thousands of dollars over the years.

Goldrick didn’t have money to buy food and would resort to scrounging in dumpsters, eating dog food and bird seed and stealing lunch meat from the freezer.

“It defies common sense that this was simply a lifestyle choice and the man had (money) to spend,” McMahon said.

Goldrick told the Star after the verdict that he wasn’t happy that the judge found Willett Sr. not guilty of forcible confinement or failing to provide the necessaries of life, but he felt a “little better” that Willett Sr. will be sentenced for the other three charges.

McMahon accepted defence lawyer Sam Goldstein’s argument that Goldrick was not confined to the Willetts’ home.

Willett Sr. testified during the six-week trial that Goldrick was an adult who made his own decisions, could come and go as he pleased and simply shared accommodations.

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“We weren’t his keepers,” Willett Sr. told court.

Crown attorney Jennifer Strasberg told the Star after the verdict “we are very pleased with the result and feel that justice has been served on this case. I think the most important thing that came out of this is that it happened and it happened over a long period of time.”

Willett Sr. will be sentenced in March.