The Calgary man accused of assaulting and torturing his former roommate will stand trial on charges of aggravated assault, sexual assault and forcible confinement, a judge has ruled following a preliminary inquiry.
Dustin Paxton did not react on Wednesday as Justice Brian Stevenson ordered him to face 11 of 13 charges laid.
Paxton is accused of confining and torturing his former roommate over the course of 18 months. He also faces charges stemming from alleged incidents involving three other victims, one of whom is a girl who can't be identified because she is underage.
Stevenson ruled that there was sufficient evidence for most of the charges to proceed to trial, after a preliminary hearing wound down on Tuesday.
In court last week, Paxton rocked back and forth in the prisoner's box, seated behind a screen so a complainant in the case would not have to see him.
Stevenson had banned the general public from attending the preliminary hearing due to fears they could leak evidence on social media sites such as Twitter. However, he allowed accredited members of the media to attend because they had the experience to assess what they could and could not report, Stevenson said.
Paxton was arrested in late August in Edmonton, where he had been living under an assumed name, after his former roommate was burned, cut, starved and then dropped off at a hospital in Regina last spring.
Paxton underwent a 60-day psychiatric examination late last year, which found that he was fit to stand trial.
The Crown said the trial is expected to last at least five weeks, and could begin April 1.
With files from The Canadian Press
