The defendant “has denied these allegations from the outset,” says defence lawyer, Michael Tomassini
The trial of an Ottawa nun accused of sexual assault against a former student at a northern Ontario residential school in the 1960s and 1970s, will not proceed.
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The charges stemmed from a 2022-2023 investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police into allegations made by a former student, Joseph Etherington.
On Oct, 11, 2023, members of the James Bay OPP Crime Unit charged Seguin, then a 97-year-old resident of Ottawa.
A request to stay the proceedings was made by the Crown trying the case and granted by the judge on Tuesday. Ottawa-based Assistant Crown Attorney Sonia Beauchamp cited problems with evidence as the basis for her request.
The defendant “has denied these allegations from the outset,” defence lawyer, Michael Tomassini, told the National Post. “We think the Crown made the right decision to ask for a stay.” She was not present in the court that day.
Under section 579 of the Criminal Code, proceedings may be restarted within a year, after the Crown gives notice of intent to do so. But Tomassini doesn’t think that’s likely.
The Timmins, Ont.-based lawyer says it’s the first time he has had to battle this type of charges during his almost 15 years of practice. However, he declined to comment on the state of the evidence in the case or what the Crown may do in the future.
Seguin is the third nun to face criminal charges connected to allegations of abuse at St. Anne’s Indian Residential School in Fort Albany, Ont.
Two Sisters of Charity nuns were previously charged — and convicted — following an OPP probe in the 1990s into allegations of criminal conduct at St. Anne’s.
Jane Kakaychawan, born in Ogoki Post, Ont. was an Objibwe nun who attended McIntosh Indian Residential School as a child. She was convicted in 1998 of three counts of assault causing bodily harm and given a six-month conditional sentence.
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