SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Judge Christine Gagnon ruled she had no reason to reject Henry Zoe's testimony when he said he didn't touch an 18-year-old in his home last winter. She found the former North Slave (now Monfwi) MLA not guilty of sexual assault.

"His evidence raises a reasonable doubt and as a consequence I find Mr. Zoe not guilty," Gagnon said Monday.

After she read the verdict, the complainant's father protested loudly before storming out of the courtroom.

The case was based on an alleged incident from Feb. 20 of this year when the complainant was visiting Zoe's residence. Zoe and the woman were the only people in the Yellowknife apartment at the time.

The complainant testified in October that while they were both sitting on a couch, Zoe had reached under her shirt, fondled her, then hugged her and grabbed her bum when she stood up to leave. Her identity is protected through a publication ban.

When he took the stand Monday, Zoe said the complainant was looking for his wife and they watched television for a short period of time.

Zoe said when he heard what the woman said happened, he denied it.

"I said she was crazy and she needed help," he said.

After the complainant left Zoe's apartment, she went to see his wife. Rachel Tambour, Zoe's partner of four years, said the complainant showed up crying to her workplace and told her about the allegations in front of Tombour's three small children.

"She said 'I went to your house and Henry was trying to bother me.' I was stunned," Tambour testified.

"I was in shock," she said. "I couldn't believe it."

The two women returned to the apartment to discuss the allegations with Zoe. Tambour said she wanted to see both people's reactions.

After Zoe denied any such thing happened, she went into the kitchen to work. The complainant joined her and they cooked together and talked until 1 a.m. Zoe continued watching television in another room.

"It didn't bother you that someone who was accusing you of sexually assaulting them was still in your house?" Crown prosecutor Danielle Vaillancourt asked Zoe.

"No, 'cause I didn't do it," he responded. "I got nothing to fear."

Tambour said the complainant asked her if she could spend the night after finishing peeling potatoes for bannock and shepherd's pie.

"I told her it wasn't a good idea and she should just go home and think things through," she said.

When Vaillancourt asked if she'd discussed the case with anyone, Tambour said she was embarrassed by it.

"We have to try to forget about it and move on and try to be the positive people we've worked so hard to be," she told the court.

In her closing arguments, defence lawyer Caroline Wawzonek argued the complainant's testimony was "overly convenient or tailored to her audience or simply didn't make sense."

She asked the court to accept Zoe's "simple and unexaggerated denial."

Gagnon said the evidence with regard to the charge was contradictory. She said she saw some collaboration between Zoe and Tabour's testimony but said she believed Tambour's evidence, saying "she didn't seem to have an axe to grind with the complainant."

Zoe's trial began in October but proceedings were adjourned for a month while the judge deliberated whether to accept the Crown's request to allow Zoe's videotaped police statement to be shown in court.

On Monday, Gagnon denied the Crown's application and Zoe returned to the stand.