An Ontario judge has stayed sex assault charges against a Toronto high school gym teacher after finding court delays caused by a lack of available judges violated his Charter right to be tried within a reasonable time.

Justice Catherine Rhinelander dismissed charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation against Clipper Miano, 37, after his scheduled jury trial was bumped for three consecutive days because no judge was available to hear the case.

The Crown, defence and witnesses all appeared ready to proceed in May, but the trial never began. By the time the court could reschedule it for August, the case had exceeded the constitutional timeline established under the Supreme Court's Jordan decision.

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"The trial did not proceed through no fault of the applicant," Rhinelander wrote. "There were simply no judicial resources available."

The delay was not caused by judicial vacancies. Instead, the case fell victim to Ontario's practice of "stacking" trials, where courts intentionally schedule more trials than available judges, expecting some cases will collapse before reaching trial.

Defence lawyer Sherif Foda said Miano has always maintained his innocence and was prepared to defend himself before a jury.

Criminal defence lawyer Daniel Brown told the Toronto Star the practice can waste significant time and public resources while delaying justice for both the accused and complainants. Brown also argued the problem has worsened since the Trudeau government eliminated preliminary inquiries for most criminal cases, allowing more weak or unresolved prosecutions to survive until trial.