Former Paul Kane teacher back in court in December
Court was adjourned until December for a former high school teacher charged with making child pornography and sexual exploitation.
On Sept 12, a court date was set for Bryce Hughes, 28, of Edmonton. Hughes is scheduled to appear before the court on Dec. 19 at 9:30 a.m. in courtroom three at the St. Albert Provincial Court for a summary disposition and resolution on his first set of charges.
Hughes's most recent charges will also be spoken to at that time.
On March 31, Hughes was charged with agreeing to or arranging a sexual offence against a child; making sexually explicit material available to a child; making child pornography; and possession of child pornography.
Another an alleged victim was identified, Hughes was charged on June 14 with sexual exploitation and luring of a child.
Maskwacis drug trafficking case adjourned
A St. Albert man charged with trafficking drugs into the four communities of Maskwacis will be back in court in two weeks.
On Sept. 12, Judge Michèle Collinson adjourned the court date for Rusty Potts, 37, of St. Albert until Oct. 3 for additional disclosure.
Potts was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property under $5,000.
According to an RCMP press release, Rusty Potts along with co-accused Cory Potts, 47, of Samson Cree Nation, were arrested on May 11 after a search warrant in three separate locations resulted in the discovery of 121 grams of cocaine valued at $10,500 and $1,200 in cash.
The search warrants were executed by the Maskwacis GIS and the St. Albert RCMP drug unit and included a residence in St. Albert, a residence on the Samson Cree Nation, and one vehicle.
The press release said the search warrants were the result of an investigation launched in April by Maskwacis GIS.
The Maskwacis GIS called the investigation Project “Medicinae.”
Man to face vehicle theft charges
A man who turned himself in to police after the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) recovered 19 stolen vehicles from a warehouse in St. Albert will be back in St. Albert Provincial Court in two weeks.
On Sept. 12, Judge Michèle Collinson granted Alain Damen, 33, an adjournment until Oct. 3 for additional disclosure to his counsel Miya Cunningham, who appeared as agent for defence counsel for David Aibrahim.
Damen is facing more than 30 charges, the bulk of which (19) are possession of property over $5,000. He also faces five counts of fraudulent concealment and seven counts of altering or removing a vehicle identification number (VIN).
According to a press statement from EPS, on May 12 the EPS Targeted Response to Auto Theft Prevention (TRAP) team were investigating the theft of a 2022 Ford Expedition.
The last known GPS location of the vehicle led TRAP to an address in St. Albert. During the investigation at the location TRAP saw several vehicles within a fenced compound.
TRAP, along with the RCMP Auto Theft Unit and Équité Association, executed a search warrant on May 13. Police allege they found 19 stolen vehicles — some of which had falsified VINs — and additional false VIN labels were also seized.
Damen turned himself in to police on Aug. 4.
Man gets jail time for smashing windows
A St. Albert man who, according to police, often sleeps in downtown St. Albert, was sentenced for multiple mischief charges last week.
On Sept. 12, Judge Michèle Collinson sentenced Donald Rowswell to 75 days in custody minus time served plus more than $3,000 in restitution requests.
Rowswell, who represented himself, appeared in St. Albert Provincial Court by CCTV from the Edmonton Remand Centre. He pleaded guilty to seven counts of mischief causing damage under $5,000, which occurred on three separate days, and three charges of failure to attend a court proceeding, also over the course of three separate days.
“I did throw the rocks. I'm guilty. It was someone who was bugging me … it's the only way I could get rid of them,” he said.
According to the statement of facts, on April 5, at 3:30 p.m. St. Albert RCMP were called to the Sturgeon Community Hospital after Rowswell threw a large rock at two separate vehicles, causing damage to both.
On April 8, just after midnight, RCMP saw Rowswell walking towards the St. Albert Mall Transit Centre, shortly after they received a complaint of a smashed window at La Crema Café, court heard. They then received a call about a male smashing a transit centre bus shelter.
Police located Rowswell by Safeway and he was arrested. It was then discovered that Tryst Restaurant and Bliss Hair Design also had their front windows smashed by a rock.
On the morning of April 26, the Inglewood TD branch called RCMP over multiple window breaks in the ATM lobby, court heard.
Security footage showed Rowswell smashing the windows with a rock from outside the bank.
Rowswell had three failure to attend court charges spanning from May to August, court heard.
Crown prosecutor Dallas Sopko said Rowswell has a lengthy criminal record with multiple charges related to mischief, failure to attend, and failure to comply with release orders.
Sopko asked for a period of 150 days incarceration minus the number of days he has been in custody plus a restitution request for a double glass window of $1,014.30 and a second restitution request in the amount of $2,363.10.
Rowswell, who had been in custody since Aug. 26, asked for time served.
