Hall remains in race for Saskatoon trustee seat

One week after announcing he was withdrawing his candidacy for a seat on the Catholic school board, a Saskatoon man who pleaded guilty to sex crimes in the 1980s says his name will stay on the ballot.

In a prepared statement released Monday, Denis Hall said his decision to remain a candidate for the Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools board was based “on a number of factors,” including “the large number of supportive calls, emails and in-person contacts my family members and I have received over the past week,” a statement from the chief returning officer that he cannot withdraw at this stage, and his “deep-seated belief that the route to a good life for our youth is necessarily through a good education.”

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, based on facts read in court and testimony of victims, Hall taught at Holy Rosary School and formerly coached the Holy Rosary Raiders girls’ basketball team.

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, Hall settled out of court with the girl and her family. After his teaching privileges were temporarily suspended, he later resumed his teaching and administration career. In 1994, he received a pardon for his convictions from the federal solicitor general.

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.