Ghana birth certificates unreliable - Court

Sex suspect only 16, dad insists
Ottawa, Caanada(Ottawa Sun) -- Despite his massive stature, a young Ghanaian immigrant facing adult sex assault charges is really a teen, his father says.

"He is 16," said the man's father. "He is just big."

Standing 6-foot-6, the young accused with a large frame is now in legal limbo as prosecutors allege his birth certificate with a date of Dec. 19, 1990, is inaccurate, even though it's a legally issued document.

The Crown alleges he sexually assaulted a nine-year-old. If he were found to be a youth, he would be held in a youth detention centre. He is currently being detained at the Ottawa Regional Detention Centre.

The accused's father told court yesterday he has six children, five boys and one girl, with his son's mother, as well as children with another woman. His son facing charges is the youngest, he said, with the eldest child having been born in 1979. He said he couldn't remember how many years there were between his youngest son and his second-youngest son.

ALWAYS HAD SUSPICIONS

Court has heard previous testimony that birth certificates issued in Ghana are not as reliable as their Canadian counterparts.

The Crown had been alleging that the accused's age had been falsified to maximize the number of years his father could receive family benefits in Canada; however, this allegation was never put directly to the accused's father.

The accused is a ward of the Children's Aid Society, but a caseworker with the agency testified that she has always had suspicions about his age.

"He told me many times he was older," Audree Lavallee told court. She first met the accused when he was purportedly 12, but she said he told her at the time he was 16.

Court has heard expert testimony that an X-ray of the accused's right hand and wrist taken in December 2002 indicated a bone age of 14-19 years. The expert said that didn't square with the young man's stated age of about 11 years and 11 months.