Over the last 18 years, few people have returned to provincial court to be formally charged a second time, after not living up to their agreement to complete adult diversion
(Phonse Jessome/CBC News)
Stories like that of Gail Benoit – also known as the “puppy seller” – who lost the benefit of having charges against her dropped by taking part in community service work, are an exception in Nova Scotia. Over the last 18 years, only a few people have been dismissed from the Adult Diversion Program, says Janis Aitken, provincial program officer for the Department of Justice. She refused to talk specifically about Benoit’s case, but says that “only a very small percentage of people don’t take advantage of this opportunity.”
According to Aitken, there are no recent statistics about the program, but only six per cent of enrolled people in 2003 returned to court for not successfully completing the program. “In general, those people know that they were given an opportunity rather than going to court”, said Aitken.
The number of thefts under $5,000 – one of the crimes for which Benoit was charged two months before enrolling in the Adult Diversion Program – decreased by 21 per cent from 1998 to 2012 in Nova Scotia, according to Statistics Canada.
Theft $5,000 or under in Nova Scotia | Create infographics
Once accepted into the Adult Diversion program, each alleged offender signs an agreement to compensate the community in some way for the charged offence. The officers will meet regularly with the offenders to ensure that the requirements are being met. If the person does not show up or does not follow the agreement, the offender comes back to court and the charges begin anew. The consequence is “a criminal record of conviction,” Aitken warns. People dismissed from the program are no allowed to come back.
“The person referred to Adult Diversion is ‘charged’ with a criminal offence, they are ‘not convicted’ of the offence. If the person/accused referred to the program successfully completes the agreement, the charge against them is withdrawn by the Crown Attorney”, says Aitken.
It does not mean the information related to the person being charged simply disappears from those data systems. If police ‘records’ are ever checked, the record will show that a formal charge was laid against this person at some point, even if they successfully completed their diversion program. What it does mean is that the person who successfully completes the agreement does not have a ‘criminal record of conviction’ for the offence referred to the Adult Diversion Program, explains Aitken.
Long story
Last Monday, Gail Benoit was dismissed from the Adult Diversion Program, after missing all of her scheduled appointments. She has been facing numerous charges since 1996, according to court documents. The crimes involve animal cruelty, theft, fraud and assault.
In 2007 police officers received complaints that a puppy had died shortly after she sold it. On that occasion the officers were involved in “heated discussions” with the accused. They came back some days later with search warrants and seized ten puppies.
In 2009 Benoit was found guilty of two counts of animal cruelty for selling sick and malnourished dogs. The latest charge before she was included in Adult Diversion Program involves fraud, identity fraud and theft under $5,000 in a case involving two dogs she was supposed to be looking after for a New Brunswick woman but which police allege she sold in March. She’ll be sentenced in November. Neither she, nor her lawyer, were available to comment.
Last Monday, before arriving at the Digby Court House, Benoit complained about the media coverage. She said she has been living “in hell for 25 years.”, as is recorded in a video from CBC.