Judgeonly trial expected to last three weeks
A Kelowna man accused of hiring women from the ages of 15 to 20 to serve as escorts and controlling them through violence had his trial date moved to next year.
34-year-old Simon Walter Rypiak was arrested in August of 2016 following a police investigation, and charged with human trafficking, sexual assault, and benefitting from sexual services.
He was initially scheduled for a three-week judge-only trial in October, but had failed to retain a lawyer on two separate occasions. Both times, the judge told him that he needed to get a lawyer, or else he would have to represent himself during the trial.
Rypiak’s new lawyer told the court Monday morning that, due to scheduling conflicts; the only way that he would be able to represent Rypiak would be if the trial got adjourned to next spring.
Crown counsel disapproved, saying that the witnesses in the case wanted a “quick end to the matter.”
The judge ultimately granted the adjournment, rescheduling the trial to April of 2019.
