The Ontario Superior Court has overturned the public indecency conviction of an Anglican priest in Toronto and ordered a new trial after an appeal found the trial judge erred in convicting the accused on the basis of recklessness. The decision means the parties may now either go to trial again or agree to a settlement out of court, or the Crown may withdraw the charges.
Justice Apple Newton-Smith said in her decision that recklessness falls short of the legal requirement of “wilfulness” to commit public indecency in a public place, as defined in the Criminal Code. In Newton-Smith’s interpretation, wilfulness requires actual knowledge or intent. “This includes a state of mind tantamount to actual knowledge or intent, either through wilful blindness or those who, while not setting out to be seen, foresee the certainty or substantial certainty that they will be seen and proceed regardless,” she said.
Canon David Harrison had been found guilty Oct. 17, 2023 of committing an indecent act in a public place, a charge laid April 22, 2022. Justice Rick Libman of the Ontario Court of Justice said while Harrison did not intend to be seen, he acted recklessly, which the court found sufficient to qualify as criminal conduct in this case.
The trial judge suspended the passing of a sentence and imposed a one-year term of probation. Harrison appealed both the conviction and the sentence, arguing that the trial judge erred by failing to consider Harrison’s “diminished moral blameworthiness,” in the words of the Superior Court’s decision, and by failing to prioritize individual deterrence and rehabilitation.
Harrison was rector of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Toronto for more than 10 years until November 2020, when he voluntarily resigned to pursue other ministry. He previously served as assistant curate at the Church of St. John the Evangelist in Port Hope, Ont. and as incumbent at St. Thomas’s Anglican Church, Brooklin, Ont. Harrison has served on the board of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund and was a member of the Anglican Journal coordinating committee from 2016 to 2019. He has written multiple columns for the Journal.
