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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Nunavut man was found not guilty of sexual assault on Wednesday after having been accused of fondling an acquaintance in her hotel room.

The 39-year-old man faced one charge of sexual assault stemming from an incident in a Yellowknife hotel in May.

The woman alleged that the accused rubbed her back under her shirt and her upper thigh without her consent. The woman tearfully testified that the man had come in and out of her hotel room numerous times that day while checking on his granddaughter in another room nearby. She said after the accused began touching her she started to cry and she soon left the hotel. The woman said she was afraid of the man and contacted RCMP soon after the incident.

The accused testified in his defence in Yellowknife Territorial court that he had gone to visit the woman at the Kitikmeot Boarding Home in the Executive Suites because they were friends. She had a room there, as did his ex-wife, whom he was visiting. The man was living at the Salvation Army at the time and admitted to having a previous conviction for sexual assault in February 2007. He said the complainant told him she was upset because she couldn't get a shuttle to the airport. The accused testified that he touched the woman on her knee only to comfort her while she was crying.

"I asked her if she wanted me to leave and she said no," he testified.

Crown prosecutor Janice Walsh argued that his testimony was inconsistent and said it changed "to make himself more believable."

Judge Brian Bruser found the man not guilty as he said he could not conclude guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

"It is my responsibility to consider all of the evidence before me," he said.

Bruser said in his decision that for one individual to touch someone in order to console them should not be considered assault.

"Surely the law has not gotten to that extreme. If it has then the public beware," said Bruser.