P.E.I. man pleads guilty to bigamy

SUMMERSIDE — A P.E.I. man has pleaded guilty to forging a divorce certificate to marry a second woman.

Peter Aaron Elsinga appeared in front of Judge Nancy Orr for a trial in Summerside provincial court but changed his plea to guilty on one count of forging a document and one count of bigamy.

Crown attorney John Diamond read the facts into the record and presented a copy of the forged divorce certificate and the second marriage register as evidence.

Elsinga married his first wife in June 2009. Then, in May 2019, Elsinga travelled to Montego Bay, Jamaica, and married a second woman.

Elsinga was separated from his first wife but they had not officially divorced.

Diamond said police became involved in the case after a copy of the forged divorce document was received at the Supreme Court of P.E.I. in 2019.

The certificate appeared to be issued by that court in 2018 but there was something not quite right about it.

“There was a notarial stamp ... showing the signature of one Alex Campbell,” said Diamond. “The police did approach former Justice Campbell who indicated that he had not used his notarial seal since leaving the practice of law in 1966.

“He was shown the divorce certificate, allegedly notarized by himself in 2018, and he indicated clearly that he had not notarized the document and that was not his signature.”

A separate incident, including a complaint made by the first wife to the second wife’s professional board, provided a confession.

“Mr. Elsinga had written a letter basically admitting to creating a forged document on his own and that his second wife had no knowledge of the document,” said Diamond.

Police investigators also contacted the Department of Vital Statistics for Prince Edward Island, which on Dec. 10, 2020, confirmed Elsinga was still married to his first wife. There was no divorce registered with the department. Furthermore, the department had no information regarding the second marriage in its records.

However, a document from Jamaica dated May 14, 2019, certifies that a marriage was solemnized between the accused and a second individual on May 5, 2019.

Defence attorney Connor Mullin requested a pre-sentence report.

“These are obviously very serious matters,” said Mullin. Diamond agreed.

“To say this type of case (bigamy) is rare would be an understatement,” said Diamond. “Interfering with court documents of this nature is quite serious.”

Elsinga is scheduled to appear in Summerside provincial court on July 9 for sentencing.