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Or sign-in if you have an account.Photo by David Bloom/PostmediaLast week, Alberta’s top court ruled that a deaf man who never learned to communicate can’t be tried for sex crimes, or even assessed for mental fitness to stand trial, because it would violate his Charter rights. This means the man is functionally exempt from the Criminal Code, and is thus free to rape and even murder if he so wishes.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAt very least, the average Albertan isn’t likely to run into Kendall Longclaws. He grew up on an isolated farm with seven siblings and continues to live there, in his 30s, with his parents. He doesn’t leave the property without them. He’s deaf. He can’t read, understand a calendar, or use a phone. The only word he can speak is “brother”; he can also write his name, play video games, and use grunts and rudimentary gestures that relate to his daily life, like “yes,” “sorry,” and riding horses. Beyond that, his family never taught him how to communicate.Brief attempts at school and tutoring when he was a child went nowhere. He knows what “mom” means, but he lacks the ability to understand society’s institutions, including courts and justice.This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againSo, when Longclaws was charged with eight sexual offences against three complainants in 2021, he had no idea what was going on.The alleged acts of sexual interference and sexual assault against the first two complainants occurred between 2012 and 2016, while the third complainant was allegedly victimized in 2021. There exists little public information about them. Some, or perhaps all, were children. We can deduce that they have, at least at some point, close proximity to the Longclaws family because of the cloistered lifestyle of their alleged assailant. And we know, for a fact, that the courts have gravely failed them.The first and so far only attempt at trying Longclaws for sex crimes resulted in failure in 2025: King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth prematurely stayed the charges before any trial could occur, asserting that there was no legal way to handle the matter in court.For one, reasoned Yungwirth, Longclaws needed an interpreter to see that his language rights were met as he couldn’t understand English, and because he had no actual language to interpret English into, there was no possible way to honour this Charter right.The Crown argued that Longclaws should be assessed for his fitness to stand trial — which, if he was found to be mentally unfit, would at least result in him being taken to live in a mental hospital for as long as psychiatric authorities thought it necessary. Justice Yungwirth said that even a fitness assessment would breach Longclaws’ Charter right to liberty because his inability to communicate would make it impossible to assess his cognitive functioning.Yungwirth went on to say that there was “no evidence” that Longclaws had any mental disorder. Indeed, he was so mentally stunted that he seemed to fall off her radar.“There is clear prejudice to the integrity of the justice system that will be manifested, perpetuated and aggravated by the continuing (sic) with the criminal proceedings against Mr Longclaws,” she wrote.She went on to frame her decision as a mere inconvenience to the victims, sidestepping the fact she just undermined public safety by releasing an alleged sex predator: “I recognize that a stay of proceedings will mean that the Complainants are deprived of their day in court. Mr Longclaws is equally deprived of the opportunity to resolve the allegations against him, which is significant in his small community. While the result is unsatisfactory to all involved, there is simply no other remedy available.”Yungwirth’s ruling was perhaps the most absurd thing to come out of a Canadian court that year. She gave Longclaws a total exemption from criminal liability while also completely ruling out the possibility of removing him from society. She judged him as if he were an escaped gorilla enabled by unwatchful keepers, not a man; a beast outside the jurisdiction of human laws.Back then, there was at least the relief that appeal courts exist, and that a panel of higher-ranked judges could reverse Yungwirth’s bizarre conclusion. But on Tuesday, the Alberta Court of Appeal provided no such correction: instead, it upheld the decision. Broadly, it agreed with Yungwirth. The Crown argued that “language deprivation syndrome” was a real mental disorder requiring a mental health assessment — but the court wasn’t satisfied with the Crown’s lack of evidence on this point.The Crown also stressed the importance of the “public interest in proceeding to a trial” where sexual violence against children is involved, but this went unaddressed by the Alberta Court of Appeal.It is perhaps noteworthy that one of the appeal judges, Alice Woolley, is the author of the leading textbook on lawyer ethics in Canada.Altogether, this means our last hope, and the last hope of the victims, lies with the Supreme Court of Canada. Unless that court overturns the Longclaws case, he will continue to exist in a lawless state, with court-granted permission to commit any act of violence, without any risk of being subdued by the state. Now that he’s inspired our judges to create a completely unaccountable class of adults in society, prepare for more defence lawyers to seek this excuse for their linguistically challenged clients — in Alberta and beyond.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.