Sheryl Ann Dyck, a former educational assistant at Winnipeg's Elmwood High School, was sentenced to 3.5 years of prison for sexually exploiting a minor student in 2014.
The court's decision was made in June 2018 when it was proved that they had multiple oral sexual contacts and one sexual intercourse.
Dyck’s new lawyers filed an appeal to the court arguing that her former lawyer Gisele Champagne did not do her job qualitative and that led to an unfair trial. In their opinion, she did not cross-examine witnesses for key indications, did not specify the dates of possible meetings of the accused with the victim, and did not look for inconsistencies in the testimony.
During the last trial, the court found that the private communication between Ann Dyck and the student began when she was 42 and he was 16. After the educational worker began to give the teenager money, drugs and alcohol, a stronger contact was established between them. The woman inclined the guy to have oral sex, and sometimes even forced him to do it in public. The boy's mother learned about the situation only after they already had full sexual contact. She informed the school and Dyck lost her work.
However, that did not stop the woman from meeting with a teenager. Surveillance cameras filmed how she bought alcohol with him at the time when he had to be at school. The guy stated that the woman’s actions were detrimental to his life.
Now Dyck’s lawyers call the court decision harsh and excessive. They believe that it was due to the fact that the judge incorrectly estimated the duration of the relations between the boy and the accused.
The appeal was heard by Manitoba Court of Appeal Justices Diana M. Cameron, Jennifer A. Pfuetzner and Janice leMaistre.
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