A man who spent 27 years in prison before he was found wrongfully convicted has been ordered by a British Columbia Supreme Court judge to pay $375,000 each to five women who sued him for sexual assault.

Ivan Henry was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault in 1983, but he was released after the B.C. Court of Appeal determined he was wrongfully convicted and acquitted him in 2010.

Five women filed a civil lawsuit against Henry alleging he sexually assaulted them in their Vancouver homes in the early 1980s.

The plaintiffs are identified in the ruling by their initials, with descriptions of their sexual assaults in their ground-floor or basement suites between May 1981 and June 1982.

Henry represented himself at his criminal trial in 1983, and he was given an indefinite sentence as a dangerous offender, but he was released and later awarded $8 million in his own civil lawsuit against the City of Vancouver and the provincial and federal governments.

Justice Miriam GropperB次元官网网址檚 ruling released Wednesday says the court in HenryB次元官网网址檚 wrongful conviction lawsuit found Crown prosecutors had B次元官网网址渟eriously infringedB次元官网网址� on his right to a fair trial, demonstrating a B次元官网网址渟hocking disregardB次元官网网址� for his Charter rights.

GropperB次元官网网址檚 ruling says evidence that wasnB次元官网网址檛 disclosed to Henry B次元官网网址渨ould have likely resulted in his acquittal at his 1983 criminal trial, and the avoidance of sentencing as a dangerous offender.B次元官网网址�

Some of that evidence B次元官网网址渋ncluded the large volume of material statements made by the various complainants, including the five plaintiffs,B次元官网网址� GropperB次元官网网址檚 ruling says.

Gropper, however, found Henry liable in the civil lawsuit, saying in her ruling B次元官网网址渋t is more likely than not that he was their attacker and performed the sexual assaults B次元官网网址� on a balance of probabilities.B次元官网网址�

Civil cases and criminal cases have B次元官网网址渄ifferent standards of proof,B次元官网网址� the ruling says, and acquittals in crimes that werenB次元官网网址檛 proven beyond a reasonable doubt do not prevent alleged victims from filing lawsuits.

B次元官网网址淎n acquittal is not a bar to a civil suit,B次元官网网址� the ruling says.

Gropper ruled that she doesnB次元官网网址檛 disagree with the findings of the court that acquitted Henry, saying he should not have been convicted or spent any time in jail.

B次元官网网址淎lthough I have found Mr. Henry to be liable for his sexual assaults of the plaintiffs, he was acquitted of the criminal charges after he served 27 years in federal custody,B次元官网网址� the ruling says. B次元官网网址淗e has not gone unpunished.B次元官网网址�