 James Cedar, was caught lurking on a surveillance cam installed in a St. Catharines home. (Screen capture/Sun Media)
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TORONTO -- Despite the efforts of Deputy Opposition Leader Christine Elliott to corner the top boss of the Crowns office over the growing scandal of the St. Catharines Peeping Tom case, Attorney General Christopher Bentley has managed to escape virtually unscathed.
Vacuous responses to serious issues during Question Period are not new to the realm of political gamesmanship.
But Bentley is becoming particularly adept at repeating the same empty answer, usually preceding it with supposedly sincere statements such as "we take any violation of one's personal sense of their security, their privacy or their dignity very, very seriously."
The tale of the tape, however, suggests otherwise.
What are your thoughts on the Ontario Peeping Tom case?
The issue, of course, is the Crown's withdrawal of a criminal harassment charge earlier this year against 19-year-old James Cedar, the next-door neighbour of Patricia Marshall and her two daughters, whom they caught on security tape peering into their windows and then masturbating as he skulked about.
Neither the Marshalls nor the Niagara Regional Police were made aware in advance that Niagara North senior Crown Wally Essert was about to punt the charge.
It was simply done without their knowledge.
During Question Period earlier this week, Bentley kept repeating the charge against Cedar was "dealt with in court," all which suggested everything was on the up-and-up, totally transparent, scrutinized and explained ... etc., etc.
But it wasn't.
For the benefit of all, the entire court transcript of the charge being "dealt with in court" will once again be published here. Yes, in its entirety.
But first, the players.
Appearing for the defendant James Cedar is high-profile St. Catharines lawyer George Walker who, despite his long career, will undoubtedly go to his grave as the lawyer who arranged the infamous "deal with the devil" plea arrangement for schoolgirl killer, Karla Homolka, evil bride of serial murderer Paul Bernardo.
This is unavoidable.
Appearing on behalf of the people is the aforementioned Wally Essert, the senior Crown prosecutor for Niagara North, and, sitting on the bench, is Justice of the Peace Mary Shelley, appointed by the provincial Liberals in 2006.
Now, here's the transcript of that court proceeding ... every word of it:
Walker: Good morning, Your Worship.
Shelley: Good morning.
Walker: James Cedar.
Essert: Number 16 (on the docket), I believe.
Shelley: Has a designation been filed?
Walker: Designation filed.
Essert: I'd ask that the charge be marked as withdrawn, please.
Shelley: Thank you.
No doubt readers, and especially the parents of young women in the north end of St. Catharines, are now incredibly relieved to know that justice so openly prevailed, that the concerns of the people -- meaning the public -- were superbly represented and answered, and that Wally Essert successfully echoed the sentiments of his attorney general when he said in Question Period this week that "we take any violation of one's personal sense of their security, their privacy or their dignity very, very seriously."
And all this was done in nine lines of typed transcript, no less. And in only 31 words.
It's a staggering accomplishment.
If that is what the attorney general meant by it being "dealt with in court," well, there it is.
'DIRECTED AT POLICE'
Before dusting off Elliott, Bentley suggested that "if there is any further information or evidence or incident, it should be directed at the police for their review and consideration."
This, too, seems a bit precious.
The police, after all, believed they had a lock on a conviction -- videotape evidence of Cedar doing his thing, all which was followed up by a confession to similar forays into the Marshalls' backyard.
It seemed like a sure thing until Wally Essert punted it.
Perhaps the time has come for Christine Elliott to set her sights on the province's top cop, Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister Rick Bartolucci, and have him push for the case to be reopened -- particularly in light of recent allegations that James Cedar had peeped before, having been allegedly caught peering through the hole in the door of a local KFC staff change room as a young part-timer prepared to change out of her school clothes.
Like Bentley, Bartolucci no doubt also buys into the government's mantra that "we take any violation of one's personal sense of their security, their privacy or their dignity very, very seriously."
Time now to prove it.
Trouble is, will the cops have to deal with Wally Essert again, the Crown who arguably punted on first down, or will they be given leave to approach the senior Crown from Niagara South, the adjacent jurisdiction?
If not, then justice, like politics, gets reduced to a game.
MARK.BONOKOSKI@SUNMEDIA.CA OR 416-947-2445
