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B.C. woman who accused ex-husband of abusing their children says appeal court interfered with trial process

A photo of J.P., some family members, and her four children.
A photo of J.P., some family members, and her four children.

A B.C. woman who has accused her ex-husband of abusing their four children is taking aim at the B.C. Court of Appeal for “interfering in the trial process.”

She wants the Supreme Court of Canada to restore lower court rulings that found the abuse took place and the Children’s Ministry allowed it to happen.

In new documents filed in Canada’s top court, the lawyer for the woman known as J.P. (whose full name cannot be revealed because of a publication ban) says the appellate court was “insensitive to the enormous judicial resources and time already spent” in two trials lasting more than 239 days.

Jack Hittrich is responding to documents filed by lawyers for J.P.’s ex-husband B.G. (whose name can also not be revealed), which argue there is no issue of national or public significance that warrants another look at the case.

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Last August, B.C.’s highest court delivered a stunning reversal of a lower court decision that found the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) allowed a father to sexually abuse his kids.

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The court found one judge, presiding over two separate but connected cases, relied on the evidence of a fraudulent expert to not only tear four children away from their father, but to malign the reputations of psychologists, social workers, and the children’s ministry itself.

However, Hittrich defends the use of that expert, Claire Reeves — saying that even if there were “errors” in her CV, it was wrong to say she “perpetuated a fraud on the Court.”

He notes Reeves has been recognized as an expert by others — even by RCMP.

And despite her degrees coming from diploma mills, as long as the court is satisfied she is skilled — it does not matter where that skill came from.

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The Supreme Court of Canada has yet to decide whether it will hear the appeal.

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