Pardons Canada: How Long Does it Take to Clear a Stayed charge
I am requesting information for my son, not myself. I am trying to help him by doing some research. I will forward your communication to him if there is a good chance that something can still be done to clear his record. We are quite discouraged by the whole process and by the lack of justice.
His fingerprints were taken in Halton,Ontario when his wife charged him with sexual assault in March 2019. It was a perfect storm of post-partum depression, the “me-too movement”, International Women’s Day, and an undiagnosed (at that time) bipolar disorder. Our daughter-in-law charged our son with 2 counts of sexual assault and he was arrested without any evidence or investigation. She withheld their children from him for 33 days until a judge ruled that he be granted access to their children as well as joint custody. A week before the criminal court date in October 2019, she dropped the charges and checked herself into a hospital. She was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder and it became clear that the charges were laid while she was in mental health crisis. However, the crown attorney decided to stay the charges.
Though their marriage has ended, our son and his ex-wife (who is deeply remorseful) have together done the research to apply for a pardon. However, they just received notice that the pardon was denied. Very devastating and unjust. For all our talk about mental health, it certainly hasn’t been considered in this situation.
Is there hope for a pardon? How difficult will the process be? Seems quite unfair to put an innocent man through all this.
Thank-you for your attention.
Pardons Canada: The sexual assault charge was stayed, which means it is a non-conviction however it will still show up on a CPIC report or RCMP file as a stayed offence. So in this case, a pardon is not required as it is not a criminal conviction. However, a file destruction is required to remove the prints. In this case, because of the nature of the offence, it can get denied by the police and RCMP as they are not obliged to destroy the prints if they deem the offence to be serious. You may try to appeal their decision but there are no guarantees.
Pardons Canada undertakes all necessary steps and procedures for removing your criminal record, including: Pardons/Record Suspensions, Purges, Photograph & Fingerprint Destruction, and U.S. Entry Waivers.
