Pure
Fiel a Verdad
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2001
- Posts
- 15,135
Two recent cases which are unusual in their outcomes; i think perhaps justice was served, unlike a dozen other cases that might be mentioned.
What say you?
http://www.thestar.com/article/280538
Teacher not guilty of sex assault charges
Jury acquits defendant of all counts, but his lawyer says he may never return to teaching
Nov 28, 2007 04:30 AM
PETER SMALL
COURTS BUREAU
A teacher found not guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student is so traumatized by the false allegations that he may never set foot in a classroom again, said his defence lawyer yesterday.
A jury acquitted veteran francophone elementary school teacher Paul Senecal, 49, on Monday night of all eight counts with which he had been charged.
He and his family have been "scarred for life" by the case, said his lawyer Aitan Lerner.
After a 23-year career as a dedicated teacher, Senecal was suspended from his teaching job without pay, court was told.
The jury was shown a 2005 videotaped statement by the girl, then 13, claiming Senecal sexually assaulted her on four occasions in May and June of 2005.
But in a previous statement, also shown in court, the student only mentioned one incident.
The father of five was charged with four counts of sex assault and four of sexual interference involving the Grade 7 student at the francophone École élémentaire Félix-Leclerc, near Kipling Ave. and Dixon Rd.
Crown prosecutor Robert Kenny said yesterday the case was one person's word against the other. The jury paid close attention to the evidence, he said.
The complainant, who is now 15 and cannot be named, admitted she once had a crush on Senecal and left a message on his phone saying she loved him.
Senecal's wife phoned the student to tell her the message was not appropriate, court was told.
The embarrassed girl dreaded facing the teacher again the following fall, the defence argued.
So she decided to lodge a sexual complaint to make sure he would have to leave the school, Lerner suggested.
She told police that in June 2005 Senecal touched her breasts over her bra after he followed her into a classroom during a Saturday music practice.
But after seeing an Oprah TV show detailing a sexual assault of a young person by a trusted adult, she adopted that story line to expand the number of alleged incidents.
She related these additional incidents in a second statement to police in September 2005, Lerner said.
An emotional Senecal adamantly denied her charges. "None of this happened," he testified.
========
HTTP://WWW.THESTAR.COM/ARTICLE/279469
EXPLOITATION CASE
Charge dropped against teacher accused of affair
Allegation hinged on age of student; teacher, 35, at home with their baby
Nov 24, 2007 04:30 AM
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
Paola Queen and her young lover were returning home from a child-birthing class last March when Toronto police stopped them.
The officers explained they were investigating a tip that the 35-year-old was conducting a sexual affair with a student at the west-end high school where Queen taught family studies as a full-time teacher.
One look at Queen confirmed another detail: she was obviously pregnant.
Queen was arrested and charged with one count of sexual exploitation. Yesterday, in sharp contrast to the blaze of publicity surrounding her arrest, a Crown attorney quietly withdrew the charge in a Finch Ave. W. courtroom.
Queen was not in court. Instead she was at home with her "beautiful baby daughter" born this past summer, her lawyer, Howard Rubel, said after appearing briefly in court.
"Everyone involved is operating as a family unit and relieved they have put this behind them," he said. Queen has a strong relationship with the baby's father, said Rubel, adding the young man is taking responsibility for the child.
Both sets of grandparents support the couple.
Rubel declined to go into details about the case except to say police "jumped the gun" by laying the charge without all the facts.
"There was no exploitation," he said. And the suggestion the baby's father was victimized, as police had alleged, is totally false, Rubel said.
Crown attorney Kene Canton told provincial court the decision to drop the charge was made after it was determined they did not have any "reasonable prospect of conviction." Canton declined further comment yesterday.
Under the Criminal Code, no one in a position of trust or authority is allowed to have a sexual relationship with anyone under age 18.
But police laid the charge before obtaining proof the student was under 18 when his relationship with Queen became sexual. He was born outside Canada and, because of Queen's abrupt arrest, decided not to talk to police, according to a source. If there had been a trial, the Crown would likely have needed his testimony to prove its case.
When police executed search warrants last winter, they found photographs showing the pair with other family members.
They seized several items, including computers and cell phones, but none listed his date of birth. His exact age is still unclear and immigration officials couldn't help, the source said.
Nor did the Crown believe it could prove exactly when the two began their relationship, although police last March said it began not long after Queen started teaching at the school in September 2005.
At the time of her arrest, the teenager had stopped attending Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute, on Falstaff Ave., near Jane St. and Highway 401, and was living with Queen. Her students knew she was pregnant.
Rubel said Queen "committed no illegal offence whatsoever," and that she and family members have been "quite obviously upset by the public ordeal."
Supt. Roy Pilkington, who runs 31 Division and attended a press conference where police gave details of the arrest, could not be reached for comment.
Queen, a former child protection worker with Toronto's Catholic Children's Aid Society, remains on "home assignment" from the school board, meaning she's not working but still receiving pay.
She obtained a bachelor's degree in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in June 2005.
According to the Ontario College of Teachers, her qualifications are family studies, individual and society, and visual arts.
She also has two undergraduate degrees – in arts and social work – from York University, dating back to 1995.
The Toronto District School Board has had plans to conduct its own investigation once the criminal case is concluded, a board spokesperson said. The board forbids any employee from having sexual relations with a student.
Rubel said it's uncertain if his client will return to the classroom.
"Right now she's focusing on taking care of her baby daughter. That's her first priority," he said, adding, "it's been hellish for all involved."
What say you?
http://www.thestar.com/article/280538
Teacher not guilty of sex assault charges
Jury acquits defendant of all counts, but his lawyer says he may never return to teaching
Nov 28, 2007 04:30 AM
PETER SMALL
COURTS BUREAU
A teacher found not guilty of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old student is so traumatized by the false allegations that he may never set foot in a classroom again, said his defence lawyer yesterday.
A jury acquitted veteran francophone elementary school teacher Paul Senecal, 49, on Monday night of all eight counts with which he had been charged.
He and his family have been "scarred for life" by the case, said his lawyer Aitan Lerner.
After a 23-year career as a dedicated teacher, Senecal was suspended from his teaching job without pay, court was told.
The jury was shown a 2005 videotaped statement by the girl, then 13, claiming Senecal sexually assaulted her on four occasions in May and June of 2005.
But in a previous statement, also shown in court, the student only mentioned one incident.
The father of five was charged with four counts of sex assault and four of sexual interference involving the Grade 7 student at the francophone École élémentaire Félix-Leclerc, near Kipling Ave. and Dixon Rd.
Crown prosecutor Robert Kenny said yesterday the case was one person's word against the other. The jury paid close attention to the evidence, he said.
The complainant, who is now 15 and cannot be named, admitted she once had a crush on Senecal and left a message on his phone saying she loved him.
Senecal's wife phoned the student to tell her the message was not appropriate, court was told.
The embarrassed girl dreaded facing the teacher again the following fall, the defence argued.
So she decided to lodge a sexual complaint to make sure he would have to leave the school, Lerner suggested.
She told police that in June 2005 Senecal touched her breasts over her bra after he followed her into a classroom during a Saturday music practice.
But after seeing an Oprah TV show detailing a sexual assault of a young person by a trusted adult, she adopted that story line to expand the number of alleged incidents.
She related these additional incidents in a second statement to police in September 2005, Lerner said.
An emotional Senecal adamantly denied her charges. "None of this happened," he testified.
========
HTTP://WWW.THESTAR.COM/ARTICLE/279469
EXPLOITATION CASE
Charge dropped against teacher accused of affair
Allegation hinged on age of student; teacher, 35, at home with their baby
Nov 24, 2007 04:30 AM
BETSY POWELL
CRIME REPORTER
Paola Queen and her young lover were returning home from a child-birthing class last March when Toronto police stopped them.
The officers explained they were investigating a tip that the 35-year-old was conducting a sexual affair with a student at the west-end high school where Queen taught family studies as a full-time teacher.
One look at Queen confirmed another detail: she was obviously pregnant.
Queen was arrested and charged with one count of sexual exploitation. Yesterday, in sharp contrast to the blaze of publicity surrounding her arrest, a Crown attorney quietly withdrew the charge in a Finch Ave. W. courtroom.
Queen was not in court. Instead she was at home with her "beautiful baby daughter" born this past summer, her lawyer, Howard Rubel, said after appearing briefly in court.
"Everyone involved is operating as a family unit and relieved they have put this behind them," he said. Queen has a strong relationship with the baby's father, said Rubel, adding the young man is taking responsibility for the child.
Both sets of grandparents support the couple.
Rubel declined to go into details about the case except to say police "jumped the gun" by laying the charge without all the facts.
"There was no exploitation," he said. And the suggestion the baby's father was victimized, as police had alleged, is totally false, Rubel said.
Crown attorney Kene Canton told provincial court the decision to drop the charge was made after it was determined they did not have any "reasonable prospect of conviction." Canton declined further comment yesterday.
Under the Criminal Code, no one in a position of trust or authority is allowed to have a sexual relationship with anyone under age 18.
But police laid the charge before obtaining proof the student was under 18 when his relationship with Queen became sexual. He was born outside Canada and, because of Queen's abrupt arrest, decided not to talk to police, according to a source. If there had been a trial, the Crown would likely have needed his testimony to prove its case.
When police executed search warrants last winter, they found photographs showing the pair with other family members.
They seized several items, including computers and cell phones, but none listed his date of birth. His exact age is still unclear and immigration officials couldn't help, the source said.
Nor did the Crown believe it could prove exactly when the two began their relationship, although police last March said it began not long after Queen started teaching at the school in September 2005.
At the time of her arrest, the teenager had stopped attending Nelson A. Boylen Collegiate Institute, on Falstaff Ave., near Jane St. and Highway 401, and was living with Queen. Her students knew she was pregnant.
Rubel said Queen "committed no illegal offence whatsoever," and that she and family members have been "quite obviously upset by the public ordeal."
Supt. Roy Pilkington, who runs 31 Division and attended a press conference where police gave details of the arrest, could not be reached for comment.
Queen, a former child protection worker with Toronto's Catholic Children's Aid Society, remains on "home assignment" from the school board, meaning she's not working but still receiving pay.
She obtained a bachelor's degree in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto in June 2005.
According to the Ontario College of Teachers, her qualifications are family studies, individual and society, and visual arts.
She also has two undergraduate degrees – in arts and social work – from York University, dating back to 1995.
The Toronto District School Board has had plans to conduct its own investigation once the criminal case is concluded, a board spokesperson said. The board forbids any employee from having sexual relations with a student.
Rubel said it's uncertain if his client will return to the classroom.
"Right now she's focusing on taking care of her baby daughter. That's her first priority," he said, adding, "it's been hellish for all involved."
