Man pleads guilty in 2003 sexual assault and robbery case
Toronto sexual assault case: 2003 attack on a senior ends with a guilty plea DNA genealogy linked the suspect after 23 years; see how police solved it
A man has pleaded guilty in connection with a violent 2003 sexual assault and robbery of a 78yearold woman in Toronto. The attack happened on Good Friday near Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue, outside an apartment building where the victim was walking home after shopping.
Court heard that the woman was grabbed, dragged to a secluded area, robbed, and sexually assaulted. Police investigated the case at the time, but it eventually went cold despite witness canvassing, posters, and a Crime Stoppers reenactment video.
Barry Cory Ernest pleaded guilty on Sept. 16 to sexual assault causing bodily harm and robbery, more than 23 years after the crime. Investigators later linked him to the case through investigative genetic genealogy and DNA analysis, including a match from a coffee cup police recovered during surveillance in 2024. Ernest remains in custody and is due back in court for sentencing scheduling.