Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Another iffy sexual assault acquittal

Ontario's ageing and predominantly male judiciary is still showing signs that it does not quite understand sexual assault and harassment. The latest travesty come courtesy of Ontario Superior Court Justice Thomas Carey (yes, let's name names here), who shockingly acquitted ex-violin teacher Claude Eric Trachy of all 51 counts of sexual interference, sexual exploitation, sexual assault and indecent assault.
The charges date back to the 1970s, 80s and 90s, when Trachy would have been in his 30s or 40s, and his students were teens and preteens in the Chatham, Ontario area. He instructed many of these young girls to take their shirts and bras off, ostensibly so that he could measure them to better fit them for chin and shoulder rests for their instruments. In some cases, he did this two dozen times to the same girls over a period of two years, using the same justification. As part of this "measuring", he would touch their breasts and nipples with his hands and a ruler, on at least one occasion rubbing a girl's nipple between forefinger and thumb. Sometimes, he insisted the girls play the violin with their chests exposed. Sometimes, he even even made plastic moulds or casts of their chests. And in case you were wondering, no this is not a recognized procedure for violin teachers. Notably, he did not measure male students in the same way, nor his own daughter (for which we can only be thankful, I suppose).
Sounds like a pretty cut-and-dried case, no? But Justice Carey acquitted Trachy of all charges, arguing that Trachy was "motivated to innovate in the area of violin supports", and that he was not convinced that Trachy touched the girls' breasts for any sexual purpose. Say, what?
Some of the victims have since gone to the Ontario Court of Appeals to call for a revised verdict or a new trial, although it is not yet clear when this might happen.
I don't know. Is there any middle ground here, any doubt about what really happened? How many more times will these kinds of patently wrong judgements occur? And people wonder why women don't want to take sexual assault cases to court...

UPDATE
On July 23rd, the Ontario Court of Appeal reversed Justice Carey's poor decision, to the relief of many of the victims interviewed, and convicted Mr. Trachy of over two dozen sexual assault and indecent assault charges. Technically, he could appeal the appeal, and take the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, although it's not certain he will do so. Justice Carey has been rebuked, in a very perfunctory and legalese fashion, but there has been no talk of sexual assault retraining for the judge (other than from some of the victims).

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