Catholic school trustee candidate withdraws after backlash over past sex crimes

By Charles Hamilton, Saskatoon Starphoenix
StarPhoenix
October 17, 2016

http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/convicted-sex-offender-denis-hall-running-for-greater-catholic-schools-board-trustee

Denis Hall is running for Saskatoon Catholic Schools trustee.

In a prepared statement released to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix late Monday, Denis Hall announced his decision to withdraw his candidacy for a seat on the Catholic school board.

“The use of the terms ‘pedophile’ and ‘sexual assault’ by the mainstream media are completely and categorically false,” Hall stated, referring to online news reports published earlier in the day.

“They misrepresent me and my ancient past in the worst possible light, and render untenable my continuance as a candidate, as well as my ability to serve on the Board should I have been elected.”

Hall pleaded guilty in July 1981 to two counts of having sexual intercourse with girls aged 14 to 16 and two counts of indecent assault on girls. He was a teacher at the time of the offences, which took place between 1974 and 1980 in Regina, Swift Current and Melfort. All of the girls involved were members of a community basketball team he coached.

According to a Regina Leader-Post story published in July 1981, Hall taught at Holy Rosary School and formerly coached the Holy Rosary Raiders girls’ basketball team. The team was sponsored by Holy Rosary Cathedral. The newspaper report was based on facts read into the court record when Hall pleaded guilty, and on testimony given by the victims at his preliminary hearing in March 1981.

Hall was sentenced to 18 months in jail and released in June 1982. Months after he pleaded guilty to the four sexual offences, he was sued by one of the teens, who had become pregnant and given the baby up for adoption.

In November 1981, after several court hearings related to the civil suit, Hall settled out of court with the girl and her family. He paid $3,500 and she signed a release saying she would not take further legal action against him on the matter.

In 1994, he applied for and received a pardon for his convictions from the federal solicitor general.

“Although not related to my teaching duties, the actual facts on my offences were thoroughly and carefully reviewed by the then Minister of Education,” Hall wrote in Monday’s statement. “I was found guilty of ‘conduct unbecoming of a teacher’ and my teaching privileges were temporarily suspended. I later returned, corrected, to a very successful and responsible career as a teacher, principal, graduate student, published academic, college professor, and community leader.”

In a prepared statement of its own, issued earlier in the day, the school division said staff were aware of Hall’s criminal history, but it did not prevent him from running in the election. The division became aware of Hall’s campaign after nominations were closed, the division said in the statement.

“Mr. Hall qualifies as a candidate under the Local Government Elections Act, 2015. The school division has no legal recourse and is bound by the legislation,” the statement added.

“We are aware of Mr. Hall’s criminal convictions, and we have taken steps over the years to prevent him and his organization, YAS (Young Athlete Saskatchewan), from having access to students and our buildings. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of our students in the future.”

According to the organization’s website, YAS teaches basketball skills so that students can “later excel on their school basketball teams.”

Hall previously worked with YAS, which operates a summer basketball school for youth. YAS chair Brian North said Hall no longer works with the organization, but was a model citizen.

YAS chair Brian North said Hall produced clean criminal record and vulnerable sector checks, as well as his teaching certificate. He said Hall has worked for school boards, too, but didn’t want to name them.

“When Mr. Hall was here, he was nothing but responsible and an outstanding leader and educator,” North said.

“This is a person who made a dreadful mistake back when he was a very young man. He was a young man in his 20s, and we knew of that, and we gave him a chance. He never, ever, ever let us down and we are very thankful to the service he gave here.”

 Father Kevin McGee, acting administrator of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon, said Hall’s convictions raised questions about his suitability as a candidate.

“Our concern is for the community and how this would be a trigger for many people who have had profoundly painful experiences of abuse and that this would again resurface for them a tremendous pain associated with those experiences,” McGee said Monday.

Hall’s candidate biography on the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools website said he is a father of five Catholic school graduates and has a combined master’s degree in education leadership and business administration.

 Hall ran unsuccessfully for a school board trustee position in Saskatoon in 2003. In a StarPhoenix report published that year, Hall denied he was responsible for the girl’s pregnancy.

McGee said “there’s no timeline in terms of people’s memories” for people with a public profile. He also questioned whether Hall could build a trusting relationship with other board members and the community.