The man acquitted of killing 13-year-old Candace Derksen is now suing the City of Winnipeg and Manitoba government for wrongful conviction and imprisonment.

Mark Edward Grant alleges he's suffered physical and emotional abuse as a result.

"Mark Grant has spent more than 10 years in jail for a crime he did not commit,” said Grant’s lawyer Lawrence Greenspon in an interview at his office in Ottawa.

Derksen vanished on her way home from school in November 1984. She was found dead more than a month later in an industrial area, tied up and frozen in a shed.

More than 20 years passed before Grant's arrest in 2007. He was convicted in 2011 of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. While in custody the lawsuit alleges, “his life was a never-ending nightmare.”

"He was assaulted, he was stabbed, he was spat upon,” said Greenspon.

According to the statement of claim filed Wednesday in the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench, Grant's seeking $8.5 million in damages.

Greenspon alleges in the suit a negligent investigation, unreliable DNA evidence and malicious prosecution led to Grant's imprisonment.

"This lawsuit is an attempt on our part to have the damage that Mark suffered as a result of those 10 plus years and since, recognized,” he said.

The Manitoba Court of Appeal overturned Grant’s conviction and ordered a new trial, a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.

"The prosecution went ahead with a new trial, all the while knowing that the DNA evidence, which was the linchpin of the first trial, was, at the very least, unreliable,” said Greenspon.

The statement of claim alleges,” “they did this in order to close an outstanding cold case and/or to defend themselves against a claim, such as this one, for…wrongful imprisonment and/or to protect their own reputations.” 

A judge acquitted Grant of the charge in October 2017.

Candace's parents Wilma and Cliff had hoped the courtroom door would close for good.

Reached by phone Thursday Wilma Derksen said hearing about the lawsuit's upsetting and that she just wants peace.

Greenspon said his client's sympathetic to the couple's feelings but maintains his innocence.

"He addressed Wilma Derksen, Candace's mother, directly saying ‘I'm sorry I didn't do it’ and that's been his feeling ever since he was charged."

Derksen said she's still focused on finding forgiveness for Grant and this lawsuit doesn't change that.

None of the allegations in the statement of claim have been tested in court.

The province said in a statement it's not been formally served in this matter.

It said once that happens it'll review the statement of claim and determine its position but can't comment any further than that.

The city said it has no comment as the matter is before the courts.