Claudio Tovar-Aguilar (Image from MHPS)

By Chris Brown

Claudio Tovar-Aguilar

Application to vacate guilty pleas in sex assault case dismissed

Nov 8, 2021 | 10:38 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – An application by a Medicine Hat man to vacate his guilty pleas on six charges related to a sexual assault investigation has been dismissed.

In January 2021, Claudio Tovar-Aguilar pleaded guilty to the charges stemming from an investigation that began in December 2019 when he was seen allegedly trying to force a woman into a vehicle near the Saamis Tepee.

He was later charged in two other similar incidents dating back to the previous summer.

Sentencing was set for this past spring but was adjourned after Tovar-Aguilar claimed he was not fully informed and did not fully understand what he was agreeing to with the plea.

In reading his decision this morning, the judge said all appropriate steps were taken and he was satisfied that Tovar-Aguilar received “proper advice, interpretation and explanation” of the charges and the consequences of entering the guilty pleas.

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The judge called Tovar-Aguilar’s “sudden inability to understand even basic English words and phrases disingenuous at best and more likely contrived.”

The matter was adjourned to Nov. 18 to set a date for sentencing.