Condom piercer takes sex crime appeal to Supreme Court

A Nova Scotia man who admitted to poking holes in his girlfriend's condoms is taking his case to the Supreme Court of Canada, CBC News has learned.

Craig Jaret Hutchinson was convicted in December 2011 and sentenced to 18 months in prison after his trial heard he sabotaged all of his girlfriend's condoms with a pin in 2006 in a bid to salvage his relationship with the woman, who cannot be identified.

He said he thought if she got pregnant, they would stay together.

Hutchinson won his first trial, lost his second, and then earlier this month he lost a bid to have the sexual assault conviction against him overturned.

However, one justice on the Court of Appeal would have granted Hutchinson's appeal, and the fact that there was a dissenting voice means Hutchinson has an automatic right to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada.

His lawyer Luke Craggs said the paperwork was filed on Jan. 10, and his client was released on bail Thursday morning.

Hutchinson only admitted to the sabotage after a positive pregnancy test. Things didn't turn out as he'd hoped — his Halifax-area girlfriend broke off the relationship, called police and had an abortion.

When the case went before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal, it hinged on the issue of consent. The court ruled the sentence was not unfit, and the trial judge was correct to conclude Hutchinson's girlfriend had consented to sex, but not unprotected sex.

Craggs said he expects interveners at the Supreme Court hearing including women's groups and AIDS rights advocates.