A Morinville, Alta., teacher on trial for sexual assault has been found not guilty of all charges.
Michael Dubas, 55, faced two charges each of sexual assault, sexual interference and sexual exploitation involving two female students at G.H. Primeau School in the town about 30 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
In delivering his decision in St. Albert provincial court Friday afternoon, Judge Brian Fraser said he believed Dubas when he denied touching the girls.
"In my opinion, Mr. Dubas, you have suffered a tremendous injustice," the judge said.
The courtroom was filled with family members who wept and hugged Dubas afterward.
"I'm very, very, very happy to be clear of all these charges and just like to have my life back," Dubas told reporters outside the courthouse.
He said he doesn't know if he will return to teaching. Dubas was suspended from his teaching position at the middle school last year, pending the outcome of the court case.
"He's gone through living hell. For a teacher, this is living hell to go through 11 months of this," his lawyer, Brian Vail said. He called the video surveillance tape a "gift from God."
Girls' testimony not reliable, judge rules
The girls, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, alleged Dubas groped them in two separate incidents in February and October of 2009.
Fraser said the testimony of one of the girls was unreliable and pointed to a surveillance video showing the hallway at the time she said she was groped.
The video showed no evidence the attack occurred, the judge said.
The judge also found the actions of the other complainant did not fit with someone who had been molested. The girl told no one of the incident for a long time and made no attempt to avoid Dubas for the rest of that school year and the year after that.
Crown prosecutor Karen Thorsrud said she believed the girls were telling the truth.
"The judge made a finding that he disbelieved the complainants in this case but that is not evidence they were, in fact, lying," she said. "And I can tell you that if I had thought they were lying, I would have never put them on the stand."
The Crown has 30 days to determine whether they will appeal the judge's decision, Thorsrud said.
During the trial, students who were witnesses for the defence testified they overheard the girls talking about a plan to lie about how Dubas touched them in order to get him fired.
Link:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2010/09/17/edmonton-morinville-teacher-not-guilty.html
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5 comments:
During the trial, students who were witnesses for the defence testified they overheard the girls talking about a plan to lie about how Dubas touched them in order to get him fired.
malicious.
Here in the UK you go to junior school from 5 to 11, and senior school from 11 to 16.
In junior schools there are basically no men left, unless you find a janitor.
In senior schools there are very few men left, those that are are usually in senior / administrative / non teaching roles.
You reap what you sow.
"During the trial, students who were witnesses for the defence testified they overheard the girls talking about a plan to lie about how Dubas touched them in order to get him fired."
The thing here is that they knew just how likely their plan would work.
Again, while I realize this was in Canada, it's another example why corroborating evidence must be required.
"The video showed no evidence the attack occurred, the judge said.
The judge also found the actions of the other complainant did not fit with someone who had been molested.
During the trial, students who were witnesses for the defense testified they overheard the girls talking about a plan to lie about how Dubas touched them in order to get him fired."
yet,
"Crown prosecutor Karen Thorsrud said she believed the girls were telling the truth."
As one who has defended prosecutors, I'm going to have to "step up" on this one and say this is a case in which it certainly does appear that the prosecutor is largely to blame.
If she was doing er job even half-way competently, then she would have known of the potentially (steongly so) exculpatory video evidence, and that other witnesses would be testifying to their knowledge of a conspiracy by teh alleging vicitims. Even without the added "problem" of a victim who acted like anything but, this is one that no prosecutor that I know would have wanted to take to trial - especailly as this appears to have been a trial to the court rather than a jury trial.
Except for Karen Thorsrud's continue profession of belief in the girls, I might have thought that this was a case of the parents driving the prosecution forward - but it seems that Karen Thorsrud is simply one of those out-of-touch true rape-believers.
Shame on her for this one.
Stop counterfeit rape!
Support politicians who support making false rape a felony.
These girls should be tried as adults and face felony charges.
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