Court and Parties
ONTARIO COURT OF JUSTICE DATE: 2024·11·22 NEWMARKET
BETWEEN: HIS MAJESTY THE KING — AND — J.S.
ENDORSEMENT ON 519.1 APPLICATION November 22, 2024.
KENKEL J.:
1Mr. JS applied under s 519.1 for a variation of his house arrest bail to permit attendance at a college. The variation was refused, and the application was dismissed. There is no requirement to give reasons for the dismissal of a 519.1 application, but defence counsel subsequently made a request and I find it appropriate to do so in this case.
2A release order may be varied by an application under s 519.1 where the accused, the prosecutor and the surety consent to the variation. The variation is not mandatory, nor is the consent of the parties sufficient. The application is placed before a judge who retains a discretion as to whether to approve or deny the variation.
3Most applications under s 519.1 are adjustments to present circumstances where that summary procedure is appropriate.
4In this case, the proposed variation engages significant public safety concerns. Mr. JS is before the court on 15 alleged offences. They include:
- 13 OCT 23 Sexual Assault
- 13 OCT 23 Sexual Interference Under 16
- 13 OCT 23 Invitation to Sexual Touching
- 01 JUN 23 Sexual Assault
- 18 JAN 24 Sexual Assault
- 25 JAN 24 Sexual Assault
- 18 JAN 24 Assault with Choking
5JS’s current house arrest bail (15 JUL 24) includes conditions prohibiting him from contacting 5 persons. He’s prohibited from being within 300 metres of known places of residence, employment or education of those persons.
6He’s also prohibited from attending public parks, swimming areas and other locations.
7He’s prohibited from attending at any high school in York Region.
8He’s prohibited from being within 500 metres of Dr JM Dennison Secondary School in Newmarket. His movements are monitored by a GPS ankle bracelet.
9The proposed change would permit JS to be outside his home five days per week to attend a college program. It appears inconsistent with the public safety provisions of his existing bail.
10No doubt the Crown has reasons why they are jointly requesting this change, but the circumstances require explanation and submissions at a hearing before a judge could consider whether to approve the request. That is beyond the scope of the summary variation provision in s 519.1 so the application was dismissed.
KENKEL J.