Anthony Hanemaayer was convicted in 1989 of the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl in Scarborough, a now dissolved municipality in Toronto, on September 29, 1987. Hanemaayer pled guilty to avoid a lengthy prison sentence, and was sentenced to two years less a day in a provincial reformatory. He was released in June 1990 after serving sixteen months in prison, including eight months in pre-trial detention.
At the time of the attack in 1987, the Scarborough area was being plagued by the so-called 'Scarborough Rapist', who was later identified as serial killer and rapist Paul Bernardo. He was convicted of numerous sexual assaults in Scarborough, sexual assaults elsewhere, and the murders of at least three girls he committed with his wife Karla Homolka.
In 2006, Bernardo confessed to the 1987 sexual assault and provided a detailed account to investigating officers, who also interviewed Hanemaayer several weeks later but did not inform him of Bernardo's confession. Hanemaayer became aware of Bernardo's confession in late 2007, after which he appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in June 2008. As a result, the court cleared Hanemaayer of the convictions and Justice Rosenberg stated that 'it is profoundly regrettable that errors in the justice system led to this miscarriage of justice and the devastating effect it has had on Mr. Hanemaayer and his family.'
In June 2010, Hanemaayer commenced a $1.1 million lawsuit for damages suffered as a result of his 1989 conviction for the sexual assault. The outcome of the lawsuit is unknown as of 2012.
Read more about this topic: Overturned Convictions In Canada
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