Crown drops charges against father accused of taking kids to Ontario

Abduction charges have been stayed against a Calgary man accused of taking six children from the home of his common-law partner to visit his family in Ontario.

The man — who can’t be identified under the provisions of a publication ban intended to protect the identities of the children — learned Friday of the Crown’s decision to drop the six child abduction charges against him on the same day his trial was set to begin.

In November 2016, police were called by a woman claiming the man and her six children had vanished from their Calgary home.

Police said the man, who allegedly had permission to look after the kids while their mother was out of town, brought them east to visit his family in Ontario.

Canada-wide warrants were issued against the man, who was later arrested by Durham Regional Police in Bowmanville, Ont., about 100 kilometres east of Toronto.

He and the children — ranging in age from age 1 to 11 — were taken back to Calgary.

While declining to get into specifics, Crown prosecutor Elisa Frank told Postmedia evidence uncovered during the course of the investigation was behind the decision to drop the charges.

Identified at the time as the children’s stepfather and a long-standing presence in their lives, defence lawyer Jim Lutz now confirms the man is indeed their biological father.

He says his client is overjoyed at the news.

“He’s a dad who puts his kids first over everything else,” Lutz said.

“All he really wants to spend as much time as he can with his kids.”