R. v. FJR, [Provincial Court of Alberta, Calgary – August 2020]

After a night of drinking, FJR was alleged to have grabbed the breasts  of a female cab driver while being driven home. While there was a  somewhat curious extended delay in the reporting of the incident, the 

taxi driver was crystal clear in her account of what transpired and the  identity of her assailant. As a consequence of the foregoing, FJR found  himself charged with sexual assault.  

While the allegations giving rise to the prosecution were by no means  on the “serious” end of the sexual assault scale, the allegations (if  proven in Court) still constituted a sexual assault. Thus, if convicted,  FJR was looking at mandatory enrollment in the Sex Offender Registry  for most of his remaining adult life regardless of any other sentence  imposed. 

BOTTOM LINE: Patrick Fagan was successful in resolving this  prosecution by way of the plea of guilty to “common” assault and the  complete withdrawal of the much more serious charge of sexual assault.  The matter was dealt with by way of a Conditional Discharge. In other  words, FJR managed at the end of the day to avoid the entry of a  criminal conviction for even the lesser charge “common” assault.