Toronto Pastor, Hawkes, Acquitted of Historic Sex Charges

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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66-year-old Toronto pastor charged with indecent assault and committing an act of gross indecency involving oral sex, Hawkes, has been acquitted of all charges today. Hawkes was accused of committing these offences in Greenwood in the mid 1970’s and charged under the Criminal Code of Canada as it was written between 1970 and 1982 by Kings RCMP filed in December 2015.

In a prepared statement, the Order of Canada recipient informed the press that he wanted to thank his lawyers, Clayton Ruby and Annamaria Enenajor, his family, partner John and friends for their support. He alleged that “I am so glad that this is over so I can return home and serve my church and my community as best that I can,” indicating that he will not be taking any questions from the press.

The chairman of the Brent Hawkes Support Fund, Doug Elliott, explained that they were able to raise more than $100,000 for Hawkes’ defence through voluntary donations. He stressed that “it was our view from the beginning that this is a case that should never have been brought to trial.” Moreover, Elliott pointed out that the evidence was “very weak” and, as Tufts said in delivering a summary of his decision, “it’s not clear what happened that night.” Elliott later called the case “tissue thin.” He concluded that “we hope that the taxpayers of Nova Scotia will not have to be burdened by any further expense with respect to this unwise proceeding.”

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