Content warning: The following article contains references to sexual offences against minors and may be triggering or disturbing to some readers.
An Edmonton man convicted of luring teenage girls from the Beaumont area using the Snapcat app and trading alcohol and medication for sexual services during the summer of 2020 will remain in jail after his appeal was dismissed on Dec. 20, 2024.
A jury found Noor Sultan guilty of 12 sexual offences against four complainants on Oct. 21, 2022.
The charges stemmed from five alleged incidents over about two-and-a-half months against five girls aged 13 and 14, who were all friends, according to court documents.
It was reported to the Edmonton Police Service that Noor had introduced himself to the girls through Snapchat using the false profile name “Malik Saifi” with a display name of “djMalik101."
A press release stated Noor, then 26, promised to buy the complainants various items before meeting them in person and engaging in various sexual acts between June and August, 2020 at his business in Edmonton.
Sultan initially faced 18 counts against him: five counts of communicating with an underage person for a sexual purpose, three counts of sexual touching an underage person, five counts of soliciting sexual touching from an underage person and five counts of communicating to obtain sexual services from an underage person.
Sultan contended the judge, the Hon. Justice K. Davidson, didn't sufficiently instruct the jury to isolate the evidence on each count, even when the evidence involved the same complainant or where some of that evidence would have been properly admissible against him.
The appeal also claimed the judge didn't sufficiently warn the jury against propensity reasoning (using evidence of a person's previous actions to infer that they have a tendency to behave in a certain way).
The complainants testified Sultan picked them up and drove them to different locations, including his auto shop, where they performed oral sex on Sultan in exchange for alcohol or medications. In one incident, the victim testified they had sex.
Sultan confirmed meeting the victims in four of the five incidents but denied any sexual activity ever took place.
The trial lasted three weeks. Charges relating to one of the victims were stayed because she didn't testify and two other counts were also stayed, leaving the jury to deliberate on 12 counts.
Sultan was found guilty on each count and was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months of incarceration. Sultan was also ordered to have no direct contact with the complainants during his custodial sentence.
The panel of Court of Appeal judges concluded the jury was sufficiently instructed and also noted no concerns by either the defence or the Crown were raised during the trial.
"The trial judge engaged in detailed discussions with the Crown and counsel ... regarding the jury instructions in this case," their written decision stated. "Neither of the issues now raised by counsel for the appellant on appeal were the subject of any criticism before or after the jury charge was delivered.
"We are satisfied that they (were) provided the necessary direction to consider the evidence on each count separately and to avoid reasoning based propensity.
"For all of these reasons the appeal is dismissed."
