haaima sex-crimes trial resumes with complainant describing her "harassing" accused after triggering child porn
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police officers escort michael haaima into the superior court of justice in kingston on friday, june 13, 2025. haaima, a 40-year-old tech worker and alleged sexual predator, is on trial facing 98 charges for a series of incidents from 2007 through to his arrest in 2022.
elliot ferguson
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jpg, ki, apsmc
the trial of accused sexual predator michael haaima resumed in superior court in kingston on monday with a woman who last stood in the witness box in january.
the woman, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, told the court she had attempted suicide in the fall of 2019 after haaima had sent her images and video of him touching a young girl.
“my mental health was getting worse,” she told the court. “i attempted to kill myself a couple of weeks later, (taking) pills. i ended up in hospital.”
under direct examination by assistant crown megan williams, the witness said the images of haaima were the catalyst for her suicide attempt. she said she had previously seen child pornography in haaima’s possession, but said his direct involvement triggered her.
“watching the images is one thing, but (being) actively engaged is another,” the woman said.
according to her evidence on monday, the woman’s history was overlapped with many of those who had previously testified at haaima’s trial, which began in the spring of last year. she was in a sexual relationship with haaima, was unemployed and homeless for periods of time, and depended on haaima as a source of marijuana. she told the court that she continued to buy marijuana from haaima even after he had shown her the image of his touching a young girl.
she estimated at the height of her usage, she was using seven grams a day, “a bong every half hour.”
though she stayed in contact with haaima after he had shared the images of the young girl, the witness told the court she no longer was romantically or sexually involved with him, but instead focused on preventing him from abusing other children. she said she embarked on what was effectively a campaign of harassing haaima.
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“i had time on my hands, 15 hours a day, because i didn’t have a job and (stayed) in the house in case i ran into him or someone he knew,” she said. “i didn’t have too much to do. i took it out on mr. haaima.”
the woman told the court that over five to six months prior to her speaking to police in february 2020, she messaged haaima as many as 50 times a day. “i threatened to tell his friends and family and to go to the police, whatever i could do to disrupt his life,” she said. “i was going to make sure he was not going to touch another child. if it was causing an issue for him, he wouldn’t continue.”
the witness also told the court that haaima had threatened her and her family. according to her evidence monday, haaima had threatened her when she was a passenger in his car, telling her that he would drive off a bridge, killing them both. she told the court she had got into haaima’s car when he drove to her home because she was sharing a residence with roommates and wanted to avoid involving them in a incident.
despite his threats, the witness admitted she was deeply conflicted about haaima and “had feelings” about the accused prior to her speaking to police. “it was tearing me apart,” she said. “i did care about him. it was eating me up. i didn’t want to get him in trouble. i wanted him to get help.”
the woman told the court haaima had taken her iphone and deleted photos that he had shared with her and messages he had sent. “he kept grasping at straws … trying to do whatever he could (to prevent) me from going to the police,” she said. “when he deleted (the photos), the jig was up.”
haaima, a 41-year-old web designer, was arrested in 2022 and has pleaded not guilty to 96 of 98 charges against him, including more than 40 counts of sexual assault, 10 counts associated with child pornography and one count of bestiality. the charges date as far back as 2007 through the time of his arrest.
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the bench trial began in may of 2025 when the crown and haaima’s defence set a schedule that would have justice robyn ryan bell handing down verdicts on the charges this spring. several delays along the way have disrupted the schedule, the most recent being haaima’s lawyer natasha calvinho’s prior conflicting commitment to a trial in ottawa, which has kept the kingston case on hold since january.
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