.JPG)
365 Every one who fraudulently
(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,
(b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or
(c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
R.S., c. C-34, s. 323. Criminal Code of Canada (bold in original)
The law is about to be changed, but while it's still in force, it strikes this blogger as amusing that pretending to practice the things mentioned above is a crime, but actually practicing them isn't. As reported by Nick Faris of the National Post, October 22, 2018 (link in original):
An Ontario psychic has been charged with pretending to practice witchcraft for allegedly bilking upwards of 20 clients out of more than $100,000 in cash and jewellery, a score police say she achieved by telling highly vulnerable customers she needed to “cleanse” their property of “evil spirits” in order to cure their ailments.December 28, 2018 update: Another woman in Ontario has been charged with the same offense, as reported by Kathleen Harris of CBC News, December 19, 2018 (links in original):
Police in Milton, Ont., arrested 32-year-old Dorie Stevenson last week on charges of extortion, fraud exceeding $5,000 and pretending to tell fortunes for a fraudulent purpose, an antiquated crime that could soon be removed from Canada’s Criminal Code by legislation Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government introduced last year.
The Halton Regional Police Service launched an investigation into Stevenson, the proprietor of Milton Psychic, in May on the word of one victim who alleged she’d swindled them out of more than $60,000. The number of professed victims is now greater than 20, Det. Const. Sarah McCullagh said Monday, adding that Stevenson, who uses the pseudonym Madeena, is believed to have taken these patrons for sums as large as $85,000.
“She’d be preying on their embarrassment to not come forward to the police, because people were too embarrassed that they’d given that amount of money to someone,” McCullagh said.
Police believe Stevenson tended to target desperate clients who approached her in a state of severe vulnerability. Some were ill or in debt, McCullagh said; others were lamenting the end of a romantic relationship. McCullagh alleged that Stevenson extorted these people by warning “bad things will happen to them or their family members” if they didn’t lend her money or jewellery she claimed she could bless for them.
McCullagh said Stevenson’s alleged victims agreed to these transactions on the understanding she’d return their property once the bill or ornament they’d handed over had been purified. Customers allege Stevenson fostered their trust by giving back small portions of their money, only to stop answering phone calls as soon as they began to ask for the full amount.
Stevenson didn’t respond to phone and email messages on Monday. Police released her from custody shortly after she was arrested last Thursday and she’s expected to make her first court appearance in November.
Milton Psychic is registered as a business in Ontario in Stevenson’s name, according to McCullagh, and police believe she has worked there since 2013. Milton Psychic’s website describes Madeena as a “superior reader, healer and advisor of all psychics” and advertises a range of services that include palm, crystal ball, tarot card and rune stone reading, in addition to intangible exercises such as evaluations of a client’s aura, energy or past life. Customers can pay $75 for one reading or $130 for two.
“I am aware that you could have had false hopes and promises made to you that has (sic) led you into a deeper path of confusion,” an introductory note on the website reads. “Once you have experienced a reading with me, you will know that you have found and experienced the truest gift and guidance you have been searching for.”
Stevenson’s arrest could mark one of the very last times a Canadian is arrested for the deceitful practice of witchcraft. Bill C-51 — legislation that would, among other amendments to outdated sections of the Criminal Code, repeal a ban on fraudulently pretending to practice different forms of witchcraft — is currently in its third reading before the Senate, signifying that it is on the verge of becoming law.
McCullagh said Halton police considered not pressing the witchcraft charge on this basis, but opted to proceed because Bill C-51 has yet to be enacted. She said that the force doesn’t want Stevenson’s arrest to be viewed as a condemnation of the pagan or Wiccan religions, but merely of the fraud they say Stevenson executed.
“It’s not illegal to tell someone’s fortune. It’s not illegal to go to a psychic,” McCullagh said. “But when somebody is using this in order to commit a fraud, that is the criminal offence.”
McCullagh said the majority of alleged victims police have heard from came forward in the days after Stevenson’s arrest, and they’re hoping more will get in touch with their stories. In the meantime, the force is urging people seeking to get their fortune told to only visit psychics who are “reputable,” and to stay away entirely if they might be emotionally or financially susceptible to a possible scam.
“Also, if you are told there is a curse on you, don’t believe them,” McCullagh said. “Go there for entertainment purposes only. Do not take everything they say to heart.”
A northern Ontario woman was charged with fake witchcraft just two days before the archaic offence was removed from the Criminal Code.
Timmins police charged 33-year-old Tiffany Butch on Dec. 11, accusing her of demanding money in return for lifting a curse. Two days later, Section 365 of the Criminal Code — which prohibits "pretending to practise witchcraft" — was formally repealed.
It's likely that Butch, who goes by the nickname "White Witch of the North," will be the last person in Canada to be charged, and potentially tried, for the offence.
Marc Depatie, a spokesperson for the Timmins force, said police and prosecutors work with the laws that are on the books at the time of the alleged offence, pointing to historical sexual offences as an example.
"That's why police and the Crown attorneys keep ancient, or aged, versions of the Criminal Code on hand, to see what laws apply," he said.
Depatie said the fact that the offence was about to be scrubbed from the Criminal Code was not a factor in the decision to lay the charge. Elements of the case were "best captured" by that section of the Criminal Code in consultation with the local Crown attorney's office, he said.
"(In) this particular set of circumstances, the person gave them a sense of foreboding that a dreadful thing was about to happen to their family at some point ... (that) they should provide them with financial compensation so they could perform some sort of mystical service that would prevent that from happening," Depatie said.
Section 365 was removed under Bill C-51, which received Royal Assent on Dec. 13. It wiped out so-called "zombie" offences that are considered obsolete or redundant, or have been found to be unconstitutional — things like challenging someone to a duel, distributing crime comics, issuing trade stamps and publishing 'blasphemous' libel.
Butch denies the allegations and said she believes she was framed by other psychics.
"People proclaimed me a witch here and gave me a nickname, but I'm not a witch. I'm a psychic," she said in a telephone interview.
Butch said she adopted the "White Witch of the North" nickname because she thought it was "cute," but insists she has never pretended to be a witch or illicitly demanded money.
"Absolutely not. I don't know who this person even is, and none of my customers from October to now have put in any complaints with me or asked me for refunds back," she said.
Butch plans to get a lawyer to fight the charge and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 22.
Timmins police issued a release Monday stating that the accused maintains an alias and "holds herself to be a self-proclaimed spiritualist, medium and clairvoyant." The department also reminded people to be wary of "extravagant claims of impending danger" made by anyone who claims to have "clairvoyant or mystical powers."
In October, police charged a Milton, Ont. woman with fraud, extortion and pretending to practice witchcraft, alleging the fortune-teller had scammed vulnerable people out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Stephen Coughlan, a professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, said Bill C-51 was a useful but modest step in cleaning the Criminal Code of outdated offences such as the one related to witchcraft. In addition to removing some obsolete offences, it also takes out a number of "reverse onus" provisions that required an accused to prove their innocence on particular points.
But Coughlan said several provisions which have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court — in some cases twenty-five or thirty years ago — remain on the books.
A bill is now before the Senate to remove more zombie laws, but Coughlan called its targets "low hanging fruit" that make up a small portion of what needs to be fixed.
"Even when they are done, the code will remain riddled with inconsistencies and overlap, and will still fail to provide guidance on such crucial things as the mental states required before behaviour can be called a crime," he said in an email. "No amount of tinkering can accomplish the fundamental changes that are needed."
The Criminal Code was created in 1892 to outline offences, penalties and procedures. It has had only one major overhaul in the 1950s and another review in the 1970s...
No comments:
Post a Comment