Law360 Canada (April 30, 2024, 1:41 PM EDT) -- Appeal by Mahajan from conviction for extortion to induce a minor to participate in sexual acts and for several sexual offences. At the time of the offences, Mahajan was 30 and 31 years old. The complainant was 12 and 13 years of age and the independent witness, referred to as a cousin, was seven years old. The complainant sexually assaulted the cousin. The cousin told Mahajan, in the presence of the complainant, about the sexual assault. According to the complainant, Mahajan then blackmailed him to do sexual services for Mahajan. The blackmail was confirmed by the cousin. The complainant’s sexual services for Mahajan continued even after his family transferred home. He testified that at Mahajan's insistence, he sent between 100 and 200 videos of himself in various states of undress to Mahajan. Police recovered four emails from the complainant's phone sent from the complainant to Mahajan and about 100 relevant videos, four of which were entered into evidence as examples. Mahajan appealed, submitting that the verdict was unreasonable because the trial judge failed to direct himself on the foundational principles of the presumption of innocence, erred in his credibility assessment of the complainant and erred by treating the text and email messages as his admission of guilt. ...