It took Justice Richard Knott less than half an hour to deliver his decision and, in the end, Katherine Collins was found guilty of breach of probation and desecration of a grave site.
However, she was not found guilty of committing an indecent act because, as Knott pointed out, there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt that she was the one who took the video which appears to show someone urinating on the grave of Graysen Gemperle, a boy who was born profoundly disabled and who died shortly after his third birthday in December 2013.
“I find the accused was at the grave site,” Knott said in a prepared statement during sentencing. “I am convinced it is the voice of the accused on the recording.”
Collins remained silent as the verdict was read and had no noticeable reaction.
The incident in question took place in April of 2016, and the video of it began circulating around Brockville, eventually make its way to Graysen’s mother, Alisha Tackaberry.
“It’ll never leave my mind, and I’m still not over the fact that this was even done,” Tackaberry said of the act depicted in the video. “But I just hope that this sets an example for people that you can’t do awful things.”
Lawyers from both sides of this case will return to a Brockville courtroom on Feb. 2 to choose a sentencing date.