US Criminals to Be Exiled to Canada?

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

WTF?

U.S. teacher exiled to Canada after sexual abuse conviction

An American teacher convicted of having sex with a 15-year-old student has been exiled to Canada as punishment in an unusual case that has immigration experts questioning its legality.

A U.S. judge gave Malcolm Watson a choice between serving as much as a year behind bars or agreeing to a three-year exile in Canada. Watson, a 35-year-old former teacher at Buffalo Seminary in New York state, chose Canada.

Under the sentence for sexual abuse imposed by Cheektowaga town court, Watson can enter the United States only to report to his probation officer. Watson already lives across the border in Fort Erie, Ont., with his Canadian wife and three children. The sentence starts Monday.

Robert Kolken, a Buffalo immigration lawyer, told the Toronto Star that exiling a citizen is unheard of.

"I don't see how a judge sitting in a criminal court in the U.S. can lawfully banish a citizen as a condition of sentencing," he said.

"The real issue is whether it's legal or not," he told the paper, adding that he wonders whether the sentence can even be enforced.

The judge who sentenced Watson could not be reached for comment.

Watson's lawyer, Oscar Smukler, told the Buffalo News he looked into the implications of the sentence and thought it "unlikely that Canada will do anything" to upset the arrangement.

Still, it remains to be seen how Canadian authorities will react.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg said that while he could not comment on the case because of privacy concerns, he could comment in general terms about how federal officials would deal with non-Canadians convicted of crimes elsewhere.

"If non-citizens pose a threat to Canada, we will do everything in our power to have that person removed as quickly as possible," he said in an interview with the Globe and Mail.

Citizen and Immigration spokesperson Edison Stewart told the Star the Canadian Border Services Agency studies such situations on a case-by-case basis.

"Someone convicted of a serious offence would normally be barred from Canada. But every case must be examined as to the exact nature of the foreign conviction and its equivalency in Canadian law before a final determination is made by CBSA [Canadian Border Services Agency]," said Stewart.

A Canadian Border Services spokesperson told the newspaper she was not aware of Canadian pre-approval of the deal.

Different consent laws

Canada and the U.S. have different laws regarding sex with a minor, and Canadian approval for the deal may depend on whether Watson would have been charged with such an offence in this country.

In Canada the age of consent is 14 years unless sex occurs during a relationship of trust or dependency — such as in a teacher-student relationship — in which case the age of consent rises to 18.

In June, the federal Conservatives moved to raise the sexual age of consent by two years from 14 to 16 years.

In New York state the age of consent for male-female sex is 17.

Watson, described in media reports as a popular English teacher, pleaded guilty to having sex with a 15-year-old female student in a parked car in April.

According to the Buffalo News, the school fired Watson in April, after he was suspended a month earlier for ignoring a previous warning to stay away from the student.

The girl's parents are reported to approve of the sentence because it means their daughter won't have to testify in public.

[The Chameleon]

How is this working?!! Legally you can not deport someone who is was born in your country.

I've read in the paper today that this judgemnt is wack and probably will not stand.

Edited October 24, 2006 by Guest

[d_rawk]

Hmm, DEM's article states that the judge "gave Malcolm Watson a choice between serving as much as a year behind bars or agreeing to a three-year exile in Canada", but from what I'd understood, Watson himself had specifically requested to do his time in Canada in order to be in the same area as his family. The judge essentially said, "Sure. We've got no problem being rid of you. If they'll take you." and the matter was thus deferred to the Canadian powers that be to make a determination.

If that's the case, it isn't really a deportation or an exile, as much as just a whole lot of wishful thinking all around. Solberg seemed put out by the whole thing. The optics are bad.

My legal fu is weak though, so I've no idea of the legal ins and outs of all that.

In New York state the age of consent for male-female sex is 17.

Curious and lazy: so what is the age of consent for male-male or female-female sex in the fine state of New York?

[StoneMtn]

This really makes no sense.

The age of consent in this case is somewhat of a red herring, given that this was sex between a teacher and student. Of course 15 year olds are free to have sex in Canada, but teachers would still be committing a crime if they opted to have sex with a 15 year old student given the position of trust a teacher is in, so this would be a crime in Canada.

Stupid, stupid sentence.