Judge and jury trial granted to former youth respite worker facing 9 sex- related charges

Dec 9, 2019 | 1:33 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A five-day trial originally scheduled to begin Monday, Dec. 9 for a former youth respite worker, will not go ahead as planned.

Instead, Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Johnna Kubik ruled that rather than a judge-alone trial, a judge-and jury trial may proceed, notwithstanding the fact that the deadline in the criminal code for doing so has passed.

According to Calgary Defense lawyer Patrick Fagan, Crown prosecutor Lisa Weich only recently (Nov. 22) advised him of her intention to change the manner in which it intended to prosecute the case. Weich told Kubik that all the information relating to the trial remains the same.

The man is facing four charges of sexual assault, three charges of invitation to sexual contact, one count of sexual exploitation, and one count of invitation to sexual touching. His name can not be released because of a publication ban in place. The charges relate to four children, with various alleged offence dates ranging from 2010 to 2017.

The accused was initially arrested on Feb. 16, 2017, following an investigation launched by Coaldale RCMP into allegations of offences involving a young person with developmental disabilities. Charges pertaining to the other three alleged victims were then entered by the Crown in August of that year.

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The man was terminated from Palliser Regional Schools after the division learned of the charges in February. However, Coaldale RCMP stated that there was no evidence to indicate any of the offences occurred at the school where the man worked.

He is currently out on bail under conditions that he have no contact with children, with an exception for a group whose parents made a special request to the court.

The matter will be back in court in Lethbridge Jan. 13 to set a new trial date.

by Lara Fominoff