THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — With his release from prison just days away, former boxing champion Dave Hilton Jr. dodged a shot from the long arm of the law Wednesday when a judge acquitted him of three serious charges.
No stranger to the confines of a courtroom, Hilton, 45, appeared in Laval on new charges of sexual assault, assault and assault causing bodily harm against a woman.
But the Crown’s case quickly unravelled as the 48-year-old woman said she no longer wished to pursue the complaint.
The judge ruled evidence was non-existent and ordered an acquittal.
Before he left the courtroom, Hilton agreed to sign a document ordering him to keep the peace for the next year.
"He was acquitted on the charges against him," his lawyer, Andrew Barbacki, said in an interview.
"The woman decided she didn’t want to (go through with it) so he was acquitted and can’t be charged again."
It was the latest saga for the Fighting Hilton brothers, a legendary clan of Montreal pugilists whose notable in-ring exploits during the ’80s and ’90s have been overshadowed by alcohol abuse and criminal activity.
Police said the alleged assaults took place between September and November of last year, a period in which Hilton was occasionally allowed to leave the halfway house he called home.
When the charges were filed about a month ago, Hilton was taken from the halfway house and placed in jail.
"As the woman didn’t want to testify anymore, we referred her to counselling as we feared for her safety," Crown prosecutor Jocelyne Rancourt said outside the courtroom Wednesday.
"The accused agreed to keep the peace and conduct himself properly and that’s the best we could have hoped for considering the circumstances."
Barbacki said his client is "happy it’s over."
Hilton was ordered to live at the halfway house while completing the sentence of seven years and eight months he received in May 2001 for sexually abusing his two daughters.
Hilton will serve the last few days of his sentence in jail before being freed Saturday.
The daughters, now adults, went to court to get a publication ban lifted on their identities to allow them to speak out.
The sisters, Anne-Marie and Jeannie Hilton, published a book titled "Le Coeur au beurre noir" in 2004 in which they detailed the sordid tale of abuse that began when they were just 12 years old.
The former world super-middleweight champion, arguably the most talented of the legendary boxing siblings, has frequently been in the headlines for what he’s done outside of the ring.
While on parole in 2007, Hilton, then 43, returned to the ring and won a bout in Montreal that was mired in controversy given the crimes he had been convicted of.