In R. v. J.O.P. (Ont CA, 2025) the Ontario Court of Appeal considered the subjective mens rea for sexual offences:
The trial judge did not err by applying an objective test to find that the appellant had the requisite mens rea for sexual assault
[27] To prove the mens rea required for sexual assault, the Crown had to show that the appellant intended to touch the complainant, and that he knew that she did not consent, or was reckless or wilfully blind to her lack of consent: R. v. Barton, 2019 SCC 33, [2019] 2 S.C.R. 579, at paras. 87-90. Like knowledge, recklessness and wilful blindness are subjective standards that require examining “what the accused subjectively knew or understood at the time of the sexual activity”: R. v. A.B., 2024 ONCA 446, 173 O.R. (3d) 104, at para. 35. ....
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