CASE STUDY: Alleged Assault Charge Unsubstantiated

Our client, Mr. B, had been serving in the military for over twenty years when he found himself in a difficult situation following years of turmoil with his son. Mr. B’s son claims that he assaulted him several times during his childhood and teenage years, consequently resulting in our client being charged with assault and assault causing bodily harm. The son claimed that the abuse first began when Mr. B returned from his first military tour in Afghanistan and continued until he left the residence. The son alleges that the abuse came in the form of hitting, choking and putting his head in the toilet. Our client maintained his innocence and stated that he provided his son with a healthy and loving environment and his son was never assaulted or abused and that he also had a great relationship with his daughter.

All in all, Mr. B did not want to have a criminal record and being a leader in his community was extremely important to him. Being the leader of a children’s program, Mr. B did not want his charges to affect this. He also had to travel for work and was concerned whether or not these charges would have an impact on this. Additionally, concerned that his son would continue to lie about the assaults; Mr. B did not have any contact with his son and did not wish to.

After meeting with Ms. Dolinska, it was clear that Mr. B had substantial proof that the assaults did not take place. Mr. B was away at the time that the alleged assaults would have occurred, and the son’s mother stated that she did not witness any physical abuse taking place. Further, despite Mr. B and his son not having contact with one another, his son expressed that he did not want Mr. B to face time in jail. All of this substantiated that the alleged assaults never took place.

Initially, the Crown argued that they were not in a position to withdraw our client’s charges as they wanted further input from the son. Mr. B was not in a position to enter a guilty plea and it appeared as though the matter may have headed to a trial. While meeting with the Crown, Ms. Dolinska proposed that our client enter into a peace bond. However, at that time, the Crown maintained that they wanted further input from Mr. B’s son.

In the end, Ms. Dolinska was successful in convincing the Crown and Mr. B entered into a peace bond. This peace bond had no conditions that would prohibit Mr. B from travelling and he was free to continue working as normal. This was an outstanding outcome for our client. He was able to return to his leadership position at work and continue enjoying life as normal.