A Calgary teacher is on trial for sexual assault

A former Calgary high school teacher on trial for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old student has asked the court to drop the charges because of delays in the case.

Jason Selby, a former teacher at Canada West High School, has been charged with sexual assault and molestation.

Defense attorney Alain Hepner told Justice Sean Dunnigan on Monday: “I have had instructions (from Mr Selby) as to the nature of the delays in the Jordan application.”

“We're almost double Jordan's deadline.”

Hepner and his co-counsel, Jared Craig, filed a so-called Jordan petition — named after a Supreme Court ruling that sets tough deadlines for what it considers unreasonable delays in cases from indictment to trial.

Cases in the regional court must be completed within 18 months.

Delays beyond these time limits are “presumptively unreasonable” and violate the accused's right to be tried within a reasonable time.

New defense witness

Selby was charged in July 2021. It took more than two years for the trial to begin in August 2023.

But the hearing was adjourned after the response given by the appellant.

The delay was due to two reasons: the alleged victim was unavailable due to his class schedule and a new defense witness appeared in the middle of the trial.

It was due to continue in June, but the alleged victim was unavailable, so a new date for his cross-examination was set for July so the court could hear a new witness.

Before that happens, Judge Dunnigan will hear arguments on Jordan's motion to determine if Selby will stay the charges. This hearing is scheduled for April.

In calculating the delay, Dunnigan must determine which interruptions belong to the trial and the Crown and which to the defence.

The court heard Selby was 33 when he had sex with a 17-year-old former student.

The story continues

“No Power Imbalance”: Defense

The publication ban protects the identity of the young woman. CBC News calls her Amy.

Amy revealed that she and Selby had sex a few weeks after graduation in June 2018.

The first contact and text messages started when he was a student.

The age of consent in Canada is 16, unless one of the parties is in a position of trust or control over the other.

Selby repeatedly told her to keep their relationship a secret, Amy says.

Amy told the court she reported her former teacher to police in 2021 after she believed Selby had been having sex with another teenager and realized how young he was at the time their relationship began.

Hepner previously said Selby's defense would be to “show that the relationship between the parties was not exploitative and that there was no balance of power in the defendant's favor.”

Selby no longer teaches.