MAN NOT GUILTY OF ANGUS SEX ASSAULT, JUDGE RULES

A Clearview Township man has been found not guilty of a handful of charges following a Superior Court trial.Anthony Holtorf, 34, was cleared last week of sexual assault, sexual interference and invitation to sexual touching. He is still before the courts on charges of criminal harassment and abducting a child under 14, following a 2019 OPP investigation.

In a June 14 ruling via video conference, Justice Robert Charney said he did not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt when it came to interactions with three young girls in 2016 and 2017.

That investigation came after Holtorf was arrested in an Angus park in March 2019.

In this case, court heard from two girls who were allegedly invited to play a game of "dirty" truth or dare.

One girl — whose name is protected by a publication ban — said she didn't recall him calling it "dirty," but she remembers Holtorf asking for a kiss on the cheek. She testified her friend kissed him before they left out the front door.

However, the friend said it wasn't her who gave Holtorf a kiss, and they left out the back door.

"The discrepancies are so divergent, I must question the reliability of both witnesses," Charney said. "Both versions have details that are inconsistent with each other; one or both of these witnesses must be embellishing details or leaving out evidence. It is possible that neither is reliable."

Another girl testified she had been swimming with Holtorf when he asked her to help him untie his bathing suit.

"The request, however inappropriate, is not obviously necessarily for a sexual purpose," Charney said. Holtorf is next in court for the outstanding charges July 28.