Toronto: A 51-year-old Indian national, Jagjit Singh, who had travelled to Canada on a six-month visitor visa to meet his newborn grandchild, has been convicted of criminal harassment for approaching and harassing two teenage girls outside their high school in Sarnia, Ontario.
Incident and charges
According to court records and media reports, between September 8 and September 11, Singh repeatedly approached girls in a smoking area outside a local high school, attempted to take photographs with them, asked them about drugs and alcohol, and allegedly followed some off school grounds. One complainant said that when she initially refused a photo, she relented hoping the man would leave—but he reportedly persisted, placed himself in her personal space, attempted to put an arm around her, and despite being pushed away, followed female students as they left school property.
He was arrested on September 16 and initially charged with sexual interference and sexual assault. Following preliminary hearings and a fresh complaint, he was rearrested. On September 19, Singh pleaded not guilty to sexual interference but admitted guilt to the lesser included offence of criminal harassment in a Sarnia courtroom. The presiding judge, Justice Krista Lynn Leszczynski, condemned his conduct, stating he “had no business attending at the property of that high school”, and declared that “this type of conduct will not be tolerated.”
Sentence, deportation, and ban
Although Singh’s lawyer informed the court that he had a return ticket to India dated December 30, the judge ordered his deportation immediately and imposed a ban on his re-entry into Canada. In addition, he was placed under a three-year probation order which prohibits him from contacting or coming within proximity of either girl or being in or near their homes, schools, workplaces, or any location where they work or study. The order also bars him from being around any person under the age of 16 (except his newborn grandchild) and from being within 100 metres of any pool, school, playground, park or community centre.
