School district justified in ending rental after karate instructor charged with child luring, despite stay of charges: court
The B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed against a school district in the province's Interior that alleged the district had engaged in fraud, collusion, defamation and breach of contract.
Sheldon Scott Hutcheson brought the allegations against the Kootenay-Columbia School District Board of Education after a series of events that took place in April 2017.
At that time, Hutcheson had a rental agreement with the district that allowed him to operate a karate club in the Fruitvale Elementary School gym two nights per week, according to a decision issued last month by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lindsay M. Lyster.
The decision indicates that the school district terminated the agreement when it learned that Hutcheson had been arrested and released on bail, with conditions that - among other things - he not attend any school or other place frequented by children under the age of 16.
Hutcheson was charged with child luring, possession of child pornography and failure to comply with an appearance, notice or summons, but all of those charges were stayed by Crown counsel, according to the court decision.
The decision indicates Hutcheson did consent to a peace bond for fear of commission of sexual offence. The B.C. government's website describes a peace bond as "a court order used to keep you from committing (or recommitting) a crime," which "requires you to agree to specific conditions to keep the peace."
In a separate lawsuit brought against the RCMP and the province, Hutcheson alleged that Mounties had pursued charges against him when they shouldn't have and that they had engaged in malicious prosecution and fraud. He sought $10 million in damages.
That lawsuit was dismissed in December 2020, with the judge in that case determining that Hutcheson had provided no factual basis for his claims. The judge also concluded that the claims were "confusing and unintelligible … vexatious, unnecessary and frivolous … embarrassing and an abuse of process."
In the lawsuit against the school district, Hutcheson claimed that there were no reasonable grounds for the termination of his rental agreement because the charges that led to it were stayed.
Lyster rejected this argument, ruling that the breach of contract claim was bound to fail because of the broadly worded termination clause in the school district's facility rental policy.
"The district reserves the right, as its interests may require, to refuse any group or individual access to the facility, or cancel any planned rental or use of a facility at any time," the policy reads, according to Lyster.
The school district said it cancelled the rental agreement because Hutcheson's bail conditions prohibited him from being on school property, and the judge noted that Hutcheson didn't dispute that this was the case.
"Rather, he pleads that the conditions were 'falsely imposed court restrictions' that improperly prohibited him, and only him, from attending school property," Lyster writes in her decision.
"There is no evidence before the court that the conditions prohibiting Mr. Hutcheson from being on school property were 'falsely imposed' by the court," she continues. "Even if they were, that would not be information within the knowledge of the school district. The school district, in its role of protecting the safety of its students, could only act upon the information it was provided, which was that Mr. Hutcheson was under court-ordered restrictions that prohibited him from being on school property."
For similar reasons, Lyster dismissed Hutcheson's allegations that the school district had "defrauded" him out of a refund on his rent payments after the contract was terminated, and that the school district superintendent had "colluded" with the RCMP in order to defame him.
In each case, the justice found that Hutcheson had presented no evidence to suggest that the alleged offence had been committed.
She also rejected Hutcheson's allegation that the superintendent had defamed him in a letter sent to an elementary school notifying parents about his case. Lyster found that Hutcheson had not submitted evidence to prove that the allegedly defamatory words in the letter identified him, since he was not named in the letter, nor in a news story to which the letter linked.
"A person with knowledge of previous articles in other local media sources might have been able to guess that the individual referred to in Mr. Ford’s Letter was Mr. Hutcheson, but there is no evidence before the court of any person doing so in fact," Lyster's decision reads.
In dismissing the case, she ordered Hutcheson to pay the school district $1,000 in costs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.