Rosetown court spotlights dangerous driving and sexual assault allegations

EAGLE STAFF

A trial involving charges of sexual assault and dangerous driving began at the Elks Hall on Nov. 14.

A man and his stepson testified against the accused, 41, from Davidson, in the provincial court trial. Crown prosecutor Tom O’Hara expected to call three more witnesses. The accused also faces charges of assault and touching someone under 16 for a sexual purpose. The trial is set to continue on Dec. 11 and possibly Feb. 12.

The man testified that the accused “almost fell out of” a vehicle after returning children to Rosetown from a visit to Davidson. He said a girl who had been crying much of the evening of Oct. 20, 2024, because she “didn’t get the snacks she wanted,” later claimed the accused had touched her inappropriately when he had gone upstairs to console her.

The man said he insisted on calling the police to report the allegations. He hadn’t told police that he had spent much of the time outside smoking during and after the accused’s arrival, nor about the accused’s condition while getting out of the car, saying, “I was flustered then.”

The boy described going over 160 km/h on the highway after the accused took the wheel, driving faster while passing a semi-trailer unit. He said he had been scared and “wanted this road trip to be over.”

Under cross-examination, he couldn’t recall going to a steak fry in Davidson and said he was fairly sure he had worked with the accused during the day before the trip to Rosetown, not that Sunday. The accused had been drinking during the afternoon, possibly the morning, of that day and while working. He had only been told by others about the alleged sexual touching, he testified.

Assault and Threats Case:

Judge Martinez found a man not guilty of assault and threatening to kill a dog, delivering his decision on Nov. 6 before another trial resumed.

The trial of Terrence Gilchrist, 60, of the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews, occurred on Aug. 16. The judge said the accounts of Gilchrist and his accuser “diverged” following a day of shopping, gambling and drinking after they went to the man’s home on a farm near Harris. The incident occurred on Nov. 9, 2024.

Gilchrist had put the woman’s small dog in a pet carrier to protect it from his three cats, instead of threatening to kill it, the judge said. The woman fell backward after she “came at him aggressively,” and Gilchrist shoved her away in self-defence, the judge said.

Judge Martinez said he had decided the man’s evidence was “credible” and did not believe the woman’s testimony that he had accused her of being involved in a plot against him and had questioned her about sending someone to get him.

“I can’t conclude that he used excessive force when he pushed her,” the judge said.

Driving While Prohibited and Dangerous Driving Cases:

During the Nov. 13 session, Judge Martinez fined Shane Schneider, 39, of Fiske, $1,000 for driving while prohibited, added four months to Schneider’s driving prohibition, and ordered him to pay a $100 victim surcharge. The accused pleaded guilty through a lawyer.

Police stopped Schneider’s vehicle on June 27 while checking drivers on a highway after a grad party, a prosecutor said. The accused did not have a licence and was under a driving prohibition, the prosecutor said. “There was no issue with the manner of driving,” his defender said.

Judge Martinez fined John R. Rector, 60, of Rosetown, $500 after the man pleaded guilty to dangerous driving near Zealandia on Dec. 29. Police were told about a vehicle “swerving all over the road” and almost causing an accident, and found it parked near Laura with Rector asleep in the driver’s seat, the prosecutor said.

Michael D. Hyde, 27, of Rosetown, was fined a total of $344 — $294 for going 46 km/h in a 30 km/h school zone and $50 for driving without a valid driver’s licence. SGI had suspended his licence for not paying a late fee when he had paid a fine, the accused said, with the prosecutor confirming it. Judge Martinez called that “unfair.”

Joshua Cardinal, 36, of Rosetown, was fined $200 plus a $60 surcharge when he pleaded guilty to driving while prohibited on Sept. 22. The judge added four months to the man’s prohibition. An officer saw a vehicle not stop at a local stop sign and recognized the driver as being under a prohibition, the prosecutor said, noting “extenuating circumstances” including Cardinal’s family being sick with the flu and needing something from the store.

Noah M. R. Duthie, 17, of Saskatoon, was fined $204 for going 121 km/h. A prosecutor withdrew a charge of not wearing a seatbelt properly.