“A parent who faces criminal charges in a parenting dispute faces a very difficult conundrum: while the complainant parent may provide a detailed account of alleged events which resulted in charges being laid, the accused parent in a criminal trial has an ongoing right to silence. The accused parent is also presumed innocent, and it is the Crown who bears the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The accused parent often cannot fully respond to (or even address) the allegations in the family law context without potentially compromising their defence in the criminal matter. This Catch-22 situation for the accused parent is one that must be considered when assessing the evidence of the criminal allegation in the family law dispute (see C. v. C., 2024 ONSC 4319, at paras 65-78).
