Tuesday, June 27, 2017

The Brent Hawkes Effect? Applause in court after St. Robert VP acquitted of sex assault on student


The Thornhill vice-principal at the centre of a sex assault trial initiated by a former student he began a private relationship with – involving sleepovers and a camping trip – has been acquitted.

Paul Paterson, 42, from Richmond Hill, listened to the verdict calmly and showed no emotion, quickly gripping his umbrella and leaving the court, where he hugged his mother, Peggy Paterson, a former educator in the York Catholic District School Board herself.

Paterson, a former vice-principal at St. Robert Catholic High School on Leslie Street, just south of Hwy. 7, in Thornhill, will now face an Ontario College of Teachers hearing, during which the fate of his career will be decided.

His criminal trial began in March when the complainant, a 19-year-old former male student, known in court as MD, told a Newmarket court that he and Paterson began a personal friendship in part due to MD's abuse of substances and mental health issues.  (more...)


Troubling precedent:


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