Send this page to someone via email

The trial for the man accused of sexually assaulting several young girls at the West Edmonton Mall waterpark began Monday morning.

Soleimen Hajj Soleimen, 40, is charged with six counts of sexual assault and six counts of sexual interference for incidents alleged to have occurred on Feb. 4, 2017.

On Monday morning, the judge ruled that video of the girls being interviewed at the Zebra Child Protection Centre following the swim can be shown in court.

The first witness was 14 at the time of the alleged assault. In her video, she said she was in the wave pool with friends when she was touched twice.

“I was standing up, waiting for a wave, and I was touched in the chest and the butt,” the girl said in her interview with a worker from the Zebra Centre. “Later, I was touched on the butt by him again.”

Story continues below advertisement

During her testimony, the girl sat with a support dog named Fletcher and the dog’s handler behind a privacy screen, intended to make young witnesses more comfortable. Those in the courtroom could only see her on a video screen.

The teen said the man was behind her during both of the alleged assaults.

“His hand grabbed my breast and his hand was on my butt and pushed up a bit,” she said in court. “It was a grab-from-behind and wasn’t a passing-by movement.”

The girl said the first time she was touched, she turned around and saw the man walking away. On the second occasion, she saw his face for a brief moment.

The trial is being translated into Arabic for the accused. It was expected to last three days but has been extended to five.