N.B. pastor found not guilty of sexual assault
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A North Battleford pastor is not guilty of sexually assaulting two young adult women he had relationships with, a Queen’s Bench judge ruled.
The Crown had alleged Daniel James Duncan, 48, abused a position of trust when he entered into sexual relationships with the two women. Both were in their teens when he met them at the Living Faith Chapel where he was a pastor, but the relationships did not become sexual until they were over the age of 18.
The identities of both women are subject to a publication ban. Duncan’s trial took place in September at Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench.
In a ruling delivered Thursday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice Dennis Maher found there was “insufficient evidence” to establish Duncan — a married father of two — was in a position of trust, power or authority with either woman when their sex- ual relationships began.
In both cases, Maher said it was only after the women talked to officials from the Apostolic Church of Pentecost — which the Living Faith Chapel is affiliated with — that they started to think of the relationships as abusive.
“I have concerns as to the nature of the discussions that occurred between the complainant and representatives of the church. The evidence … indicates to me that there was a concern with the effect the relationship would have on the church,” Maher said.
ACOP president Wes Mills declined to comment on the ruling Thursday, but issued a statement confirming Duncan resigned as a credential minister with ACOP on Feb. 1, 2010.
“The Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada has cooperated with the judicial system in this matter,” Mills wrote. “Our prayer is that healing can now begin for everyone who has been impacted by this matter.”
Duncan and his family now live in Kelowna, B.C.
The first complainant, now 31, was 15 when she started participating in a youth group in 1996 at the church where Duncan was then the youth pastor. She saw him occasionally for counselling and the youth group would sometimes meet at Duncan’s home.
She went away to college after graduating high school and stayed in touch with Duncan, then returned to North Battleford, where she lived with the Duncans for a period of time. Their relationship became sexual in 2001, when she was 18.
“They would arouse and climax each other,” Maher recounted from the woman’s testimony. However, they never had vaginal intercourse because they agreed sexual intercourse was only for married couples.
“When asked why she cuddled with the accused, she said she was powerless, that he was a pastor and he told her what they did was right,” Maher said. “She trusted what he said and went along with it, when he would tell her their physical contact was an expression of the love they had for each other.”
The relationship continued off and on until 2008. In the interim, Duncan officiated at the woman’s wedding to another man, with whom she now has three children.
On the occasions Duncan and the woman stopped the relationship, Duncan would advise the woman to “pray upon it” and follow her conscience, and they would usually start again a few weeks later.
The second complainant, now 25, met Duncan when she was 17 years old and sitting in the lobby of the church crying after a memorial service. He invited her to his office to talk and they started regularly meeting to talk about her issues.
They stayed in touch and in 2006 the young woman emailed Duncan saying she needed a place to live. The Duncan family took the woman, then 18, in. She would attend church with Duncan’s wife and children and Duncan would introduce her to the congregation as his adopted daughter.
The relationship became sexual, first with touching and then progressing to oral sex and, on one occasion, anal sex. Their relationship continued for about 3 ½years. She testified that on one occasion, they had intercourse but Duncan withdrew before ejaculation. She became upset after that and took 60 Robitussin pills. Duncan took her to the hospital.
In 2010, she told a teacher at Bible college about the relationship. He arranged for her to talk to a counsellor and after that, she talked with the president of the college, then the president of the church. “In several meetings she attended through the church, she was told that Duncan had abused her,” Maher said.
She also contacted the first complainant and they talked about their relationships with Duncan.
In his ruling, Maher noted the Crown had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Duncan touched the complainants in a sexual manner without their consent — and if they gave their consent, that the consent was coerced by Duncan’s position of trust or authority.
Maher said he accepted Duncan’s testimony that Duncan believed both women were willing participants and that they had numerous discussions about ending the relationship if the women weren’t feeling OK with it. He found Duncan was not in a position of trust when either sexual relationship began.
Defence lawyer Bill Roe said Duncan is pleased with the acquittal.
“The argument of the defence was essentially that what he may have done may have been ill-advised and, morally, we may look at it and say that isn’t appropriate, but it was not criminal,” Roe said. “And as the judge indicated, he wasn’t satisfied there was sufficient evidence to show (Duncan) abused a position of authority to induce the women to consent to their involvement with Mr. Duncan.”