Ashton acquitted.

[April lady]

I always thought that, in this country, there was a presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Therefore, as it was not proven in court that this lady was guilty, we ought to presume she was innocent of all charges.

Unfortunately though, trials about sex with a minor have become the new "Salem Witch Trials", surrounded by the same predetermined beliefs and societal demonization of the accused. As the old saying goes "if you throw enough mud, at least SOME of it is bound to stick". Consequently this lady's life and reputation is ruined regardless of whether she actually did the crime or not. And for that I feel very sorry for her.

She has lost her job, her lifestyle, her home and all of her savings (due to legal costs), her reputation, and even her health (due to stress). Surely that is punishment enough, particularly if she didn't do that of which she was accused, to satisfy even her fiercest detractors. Yet apparently, if the writings of some of those in this thread and the comments of some of the spectators in court are to be believed, many are still baying for her blood.

This lady appears to have had a much closer relationship with some of her students than is professionally necessary. In particular with members of the sports team which she coached (which could explain why they were all male students). And while that was obviously unwise of her, it was not illegal. I heard that the reason she wound up sharing a hotel room with the team while attending an out of town sporting event was due to a mix up, whereby the hotel inadvertently booked only one room instead of two. So, if true, that eliminates some of the mystery surrounding that particular event (although I agree there are questions about why she'd sleep on the same bed as one of her students. However, as there were 3 other kids in the room I consider it highly unlikely anything sexual took place).

I agree with Fancy that this could well be an excellent illustration of how having an overly friendly relationship with a student could cause that student to believe that one's actions indicate a completely different meaning than that which was originally intended. And for that reason alone teachers should be more cautious about befriending their students. This lady has demonstrated very poor judgement when it comes to dealing with young people she works with. But again, that is not illegal.

It is unfortunate, and in my opinion just plain wrong, the the judge chose to cast aspersions on this lady's character, despite the fact there was absolutley NO proof that she did that of which she was accused. Because if there HAD have been proof, she would have been found guilty. The court system can't have it both ways; either Ashton was guilty or she was not. Therefore, the judge's comments in this case were out of line.

Now change all of this to reference a man being the target of smear campaign. Do you feel the same.....!

[Fritzthecat]

I don't doubt she exercised poor judgment, but the story of the accused never did add up. Obviously the Crown agreed too.
Now this lady is left to pick up the pieces of a ruined life and career simply because she was accused. As far as I am concerned she SHOULD have her job back! She was cleared in the courts which is the standard we use in our society.
Now to people here calling for her head on a platter simply because they still believe she is guilty, I will quote JFK:
"Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. John F. Kennedy "
I ask, how would you feel if you were in her shoes? (And don't give me any " I would fess up" nonesense.)

[gardengirl]

i dont have a relationship with ashton....why? because i cant stand people who get online and attack a group of people without have any understanding of what is going on makes me a a friend of ashton?

here is a thought, why dont you come clean, tell everyone what you do, what professional organizations you belong to, ... so we can analyze and critique every little detail of what you do or say. must be nice to diss everyone from that glass house, eh.

Hit a nerve? What is interesting is your attempts to deflect the fact that the woman was shown to have been engaged in unprofessional behaviour at the least. (I would however like to know how you knew she was an administrator, I did not find that information anywhere through regular channels).
The Judge in this case clearly felt there was something untoward going on even though there was not adequate evidence to find her guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The Judge went so far as to make a statement to that effect.

Ms Ashton demonstrated incredibly poor judgement in her personal and unprofessional relationship with this student.
This in itself calls into question her suitability to be a teacher.

[Logitack]

hit a nerve...you betcha, when she was found not guilty and people like yourself presume to know more than what was heard in the court and assume guilt, i have a huge problem. those of you living in your glass house, point fingers and make assumptions and post them in an online forum is outrageous. of course you arent considering how this affects ashton, and that her life is ruined because this kid made a charge, which turned out his accusation proved to be unsubstantiated.

i read right here on castanet she was a vice principal. i guess that little wee fact escaped your purview since it didnt meet your agenda of teacher bashing.

The trial heard the assaults began when she was his Grade 7 teacher, vice-principal and basketball coach at Coldstream Elementary .
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-story--2-.htm

[Thinktank]

removed - Jennylives

[the truth]

wow really
if having sex with a 12 year old kid in doing nothing wrong
then i guess she did nothing wrong

[Fancy]

that her life is ruined because this kid made a charge, which turned out his accusation proved to be unsubstantiated.

I don't believe that was established. And don't say "semantics" - laws are what they are.

[Merry]

Merry?? and does your opinion(theory) also apply to people like OJ Simpson

There is absolutely no correlation between the two. Mr. Simpson was an American citizen accused of murder, who was tried in an American court. And I have no intention of going off topic by begining to discuss his particular case.

The fact is that Ms. Ashton was found NOT GUILTY because the Crown failed to produce enough evidence to prove it's case. If you have any evidence that will change that verdict, I suggest you submit it to the Crown and get them to launch an appeal. Otherwise, Ms. Ashton deserves to be considered innocent until proven otherwise.

[Merry]

Now change all of this to reference a man being the target of smear campaign. Do you feel the same.....!

Yes I do. I once sat on a jury that found a male teacher not guilty of a similar charge and when he still lost his job,despite the verdict, I didn't think it was right.

Small cities have very busy rumour mills, and all too often these folks are convicted in the minds of the public long before the case goes to trial. I sometimes wonder why we even bother with a trial when people are accused of sex crimes. Maybe we should just boil them in oil or burn them at the stake instead, because people tend to apply the same mentality as they did in the days when such punishments were commonplace.

It's important to remember that an accusation alone does not mean the accused actually did the crime. Maybe they did, but then again maybe they did not. That's why we have a court system; to try to determine which party is telling the truth. It's not perfect, but it's the best system we've got, and we ought to respect it.

In this particular case there was no evidence to prove that the accuser spoke the truth, therefore, under our system of justice, we have to presume the lady was innocent.

[Merry]

I don't believe that was established. And don't say "semantics" - laws are what they are.

It was established that there was no evidence to prove his story. End of story.

[fvkasm2x]

My concern - why have students to your house? In this case - Labour Day weekend in 2003 where Ashton allegedly brought the boy to her parent's Coquitlam home I'm not saying anything beyond making sure a relationship between student and teacher must remain professional.

It's sad that society has gotten this way.

In Grade 3 our class went to our teachers house for a campout weekend. It was one of the best times of my life.

[Fancy]

I don't think society has "gotten" this way - chaperones have been used for a multitude of circumstances for a reason.

[ticat900]

There is absolutely no correlation between the two. Mr. Simpson was an American citizen accused of murder, who was tried in an American court. And I have no intention of going off topic by begining to discuss his particular case.

The fact is that Ms. Ashton was found NOT GUILTY because the Crown failed to produce enough evidence to prove it's case. If you have any evidence that will change that verdict, I suggest you submit it to the Crown and get them to launch an appeal. Otherwise, Ms. Ashton deserves to be considered innocent until proven otherwise.[/quote]


In reality it does not come down to evidence.Its who the judge beleived more in the way I saw things!! that,s the part you dont seem to understand same as old OJ.Your Opinion is the judge ruled correctly.Mine is she had a better lawyer and the kid told a few fibs but he was still banging her way back when

[Fancy]

It was established that there was no evidence to prove his story. End of story.

There wasn't enough evidence to prove it didn't happen either. Reasonable doubt. Hung jury the first time, not guilty this time. Perjury charges still pending?

[gardengirl]

hit a nerve...you betcha, when she was found not guilty and people like yourself presume to know more than what was heard in the court and assume guilt, i have a huge problem. those of you living in your glass house, point fingers and make assumptions and post them in an online forum is outrageous. of course you arent considering how this affects ashton, and that her life is ruined because this kid made a charge, which turned out his accusation proved to be unsubstantiated.

[/quote]

You seem to have no problem pointing fingers yourself. This is not about me or anyone else who has expressed an opinion here.

You make it sound like Deborah Ashton had nothing to do with what happened to her. Sorry, that doesn't wash.
Her choices, her behaviour and her actions contributed to the results. If her life is ruined, she played a part in it.