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- Judge
Cosgrove | Susan
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- Kerry Evans
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- Judge no more
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Judge resigns over misconduct
allegations
By KIRK MAKIN, JUSTICE
REPORTER, November 17, 2004
An Ontario judge has beaten
a disciplinary panel to the punch, resigning before he could
be penalized for a pattern of sexual misconduct involving female
staff at the Barrie, Ont., courthouse.
The 11th-hour resignation likely
prevented Kerry Evans from being the first judge removed from
the bench since the Ontario Judicial Council developed its current
disciplinary procedure in 1995.
"I'm sure it must have
been a very difficult time for the judge," Douglas C. Hunt,
a lawyer for the Ontario Judicial Council, said in an interview
yesterday. "It is a difficult decision to make. But I believe
he did the right thing."
The panel heard a slew of sensational
allegations last August involving buttock-squeezing, forcible
French-kissing and even oral sex between the judge and members
of the courthouse staff.
Shortly after it convened yesterday,
the panel, chaired by Madame Justice Louise Charron of the Supreme
Court of Canada, was told Mr. Evans had tendered his resignation
to Ontario Attorney-General Michael Bryant on Monday.
"I believe that we are
all in agreement that in light of the resignation, there is no
further jurisdiction for this panel," Mr. Hunt told the
panel.
A former Crown prosecutor and
defence lawyer appointed to the bench in October, 1997, Mr. Evans
is the son of former Ontario chief justice Gregory Evans. Mr.
Evans was acquitted earlier this year of criminal charges arising
from the allegations, but faces civil lawsuits filed by at least
two women. He had been suspended with pay since December, 2002.
Brian Greenspan, Mr. Evans's
lawyer, said yesterday his client "felt that in light of
the findings, he couldn't have served effectively as a judge."
Mr. Greenspan said Mr. Evans has not indicated his future plans.
Besides being ineligible for
a judicial pension, Mr. Evans must reapply to the Law Society
of Upper Canada if he wants to practise as a lawyer. The law
society can refuse such requests if they are made by former judges
who were removed or resigned because of misconduct.
Mr. Hunt said the panel would
have been seeking a penalty "at the high end of the scale
-- and the only provisions at the high end are a suspension without
pay for a month, or removal."
The panel said Mr. Evans was
legendary for being tactile, generous, gregarious -- and for
invading what others felt to be personal space.
"It is unrealistic, and
also unfair, to expect that the employee will confidently, without
fear of recrimination, stand his or her ground against a person
in authority to ensure respect of his or her private space,"
it said.
Incidents the council ruled
were well-founded included: Mr. Evans touching a woman's crotch
while gesticulating, a gesture the panel said may fall short
of sexual assault but is certainly reckless and inappropriate;
several "totally unacceptable" instances of butt-slapping;
pinning a complainant against a wall with his chest, grabbing
her buttocks and trying to force jujubes into her mouth; trying
to persuade a complainant to embark on an affair, including an
incident in which he put his tongue in her mouth while kissing
her.
Mr. Evans's accusers, who cannot
be identified, include court clerks, court reporters, probation
officers and judges' secretaries.
Between 1965 and 1995, the
council ruled on five occasions that allegations against a judge
were sufficiently serious to hold public inquiries, OJC registrar
Valerie Sharp said yesterday. In four cases, the council ruled
against the judge. In the fifth case, the judge resigned before
the inquiry could be held.
Ontario
judge engaged in sexual misconduct
Judicial panel yet to
decide whether Evans should be fired or be handed lesser penalty
By KIRK MAKIN, JUSTICE
REPORTER, Sep 28, 2004
An Ontario judge accused by
eight women of unwanted patting, groping and other acts has been
found by the province's judicial disciplinary body to have engaged
in sexual misconduct.
The finding was the most serious
the Ontario Judicial Council has reached since its creation in
1995. A hearing panel will reconvene "as soon as possible"
to decide whether Provincial Court Judge Kerry Evans should be
removed from the bench or receive some lesser penalty, such as
a suspension or reprimand.
Last month, the panel heard
a slew of sensational allegations involving buttock-squeezing,
forcible French-kissing and even oral sex between Judge Evans
and members of the Barrie courthouse staff.
The hearing featured several
days of graphic evidence, including a bizarre debate over whether
Judge Evans had a distinguishing physical mark that at least
one accuser ought to have been aware of -- a shaved genital region.
Led by Madam Justice Louise
Charron of the Supreme Court of Canada, the panel frequently
preferred the testimony of the complainants over that of Judge
Evans. It noted on occasions that his testimony lacked "the
ring of truth," was "incredible" or "seemed
incongruous."
". . . It is our view
that Justice Evans has demonstrated on a number of occasions
a disturbing insensitivity to other persons' comfort zones,"
it said. "On other occasions, he has clearly crossed the
line."
At one point, the panel took
pains to eliminate any suggestion of a conspiracy against Judge
Evans. "We have found no basis to suspect collaboration
between the witnesses."
However, the panel ruled in
favour of Judge Evans on a complaint that he manoeuvred a woman
into having mutual oral sex in his judicial chambers -- the most
serious complaint he faced. The panel expressed skepticism about
inconsistencies in the complainant's evidence, her ability to
recall incidents, her exaggerated responses and her apparent
hostility toward Judge Evans.
It observed that the allegations
involved forced, rather than consensual, sex. "We have carefully
assessed the evidence about these allegations having regard to
the high standard of proof that must be met," the panel
said. "In our view, that onus has not been met."
Judge Evans was acquitted earlier
of criminal charges arising from the allegations, but he faces
civil lawsuits by at least two women. He has been suspended with
pay since December, 2002.
Brian Greenspan, Judge Evans's
lawyer, said yesterday that he and his client were very disappointed
by the ruling. He said that no decision has been made on whether
to appeal the finding to Divisional Court.
The panel noted yesterday that
Judge Evans was legendary within the Barrie courthouse for being
tactile, generous, gregarious -- and for chronically invading
what others felt to be their personal space.
"Every witness agreed
that Justice Evans had the habit of standing quite close to the
person he would be speaking to, at times causing that person
to back up," it said. "His personal space was described
as much smaller than that of the average person.
"It is unrealistic, and
also unfair, to expect that the employee will confidently, without
fear of recrimination, stand his or her ground against a person
in authority to ensure respect of his or her private space."
Incidents the council ruled
were well-founded include:
Judge Evans touching a woman's
crotch while gesticulating, a gesture the panel said may fall
short of sexual assault but is certainly reckless and inappropriate;
Several "totally unacceptable"
instances of butt-slapping;
Pinning a complainant against
a wall with his chest, grabbing her buttocks and trying to force
jujubes into her mouth;
Trying to persuade a complainant
to embark on an affair, including an incident where he put his
tongue in her mouth while kissing her.
A former Crown attorney and
defence lawyer, Judge Evans was appointed in October, 1997. His
accusers, who cannot be identified, include court clerks, court
reporters, probation officers and judges' secretaries.
- © 2004 Bell
Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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- Judge's conduct probed
Female court staff filed sex complaints
CanWest News Service, August
09, 2004
TORONTO -- An Ontario provincial
court judge facing allegations of sexual misconduct is expected
to testify in his defence today at a rare judicial disciplinary
hearing.
A four member panel of the
Ontario Judicial Council heard testimony last week from eight
women who complained about the conduct of Justice Kerry Evans.
The 54-year-old judge was described
as someone who had a reputation as a "pervert" among
female court staff, who would try to feed them candies and on
one occasion bragged about the size of his penis to a clerk.
Evans, who sits as a judge
in Barrie, could be removed from the bench if the panel finds
him guilty of sexual misconduct.
The son of former Ontario chief
justice Gregory Evans was acquitted of sexual assault in May
by another Ontario judge.
He has been suspended with
pay since December 2002. Provincial court judges in Ontario earn
$206,000 annually after they were recently awarded a 21-per cent
raise.
The complainant in the criminal
trial testified at the disciplinary hearing last week Evans was
always "too close for comfort" and would brush her
hair from her eyes.
"Among the clerks, it
was well known he had the reputation as a pervert," the
35-year old former court clerk told the panel.
The incident that led to the
criminal charges occurred in December 2002 when Evans and the
woman were talking about Christmas shopping as they walked to
the courtroom. "I felt his hand in direct contact with my
crotch," the woman testified, explaining the judge touched
her briefly over her court robe.
The criminal trial judge ruled
the contact was accidental and Evans' lawyer Brian Greenspan
took off his suit jacket and put on a clerk's robe during the
hearing to suggest the woman's allegations were not credible.
"It is pretty difficult
to know where the genitals are," Greenspan said as he wore
the loose fitting garment in front of the disciplinary panel.
© The Windsor Star 2004
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Truth can never be
told so as to be understood, and not be believ'd. William Blake, The Proverbs of Hell
