TORONTO -- Premier Dalton McGuinty has apologized to a St. Catharines mom left living "in fear" after a Crown attorney -- without warning -- dropped a criminal harassment charge against a neighbour.
"Clearly this was not handled properly, and they should have been notified by the Crown that the charges were going to be dropped," McGuinty said yesterday. "And I apologize for that failure on the part of the Crown office ... We dropped the ball there."
As revealed by Toronto Sun columnist Mark Bonokoski, Patricia Marshall and her two daughters videotaped a young man peeking in their windows and masturbating.
Police charged a teenage neighbour but the case was withdrawn by the Crown, who later admitted he should have told the Marshall family about that decision.
STRONGER STAND
The mom said she found out 13 days later while making inquiries about the court case.
Tory justice critic Christine Elliott is urging Attorney General Chris Bentley to charge the Peeping Tom.
McGuinty said he couldn't comment on what might happen next.
"But certainly we would want to send a message to all our mothers and sisters and daughters that we will do everything we can to protect them," the premier said.
PC Leader Tim Hudak said the McGuinty government needs to take a stronger stand in defence of these women.
"An apology just won't cut it," Hudak said. "It sends a terrible message -- the notion that this guy would get off the hook and that the attorney general seems uninterested in pursuing a case of this nature."
ANTONELLA.ARTUSO@SUNMEDIA.CA
