By Sheldon Spackman

Trial Not Going Ahead

Charges withdrawn against former Innisfail councillor accused of sexual assault

Jan 16, 2022 | 11:00 AM

A five-day judge and jury trial previously scheduled to begin next week for a former Innisfail town councillor charged with sexual assault and other counts will not be going ahead.

All four charges against Donald D. Hill were withdrawn in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Aug. 9, 2021.

According to Crown Prosecutor Brian Shantz, in prosecuting any individual, they regularly review the evidence to ensure that when a matter goes to trial, they have a reasonable likelihood of conviction by proving beyond a reasonable doubt, the allegations made against the charged person can be made out by the evidence.

“In withdrawing the charges, after extensive review, we concluded the threshold could not be met at trial,” explained Shantz.

Hill had been charged with sexual assault, unlawful confinement, assault, and criminal harassment.

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As a result of those charges, sanctions were imposed on Hill who was an elected town councillor in Innisfail at the time.

The sanctions followed the completion of an external, independent investigation of matters associated with Hill’s upholding of council’s code of conduct.

The sanctions included suspending Hill’s appointment from all council committees until his legal proceedings involving his private affairs were concluded.

The alleged offences occurred between 2013 – 2015.

During an in-camera (non-public) portion of their regular meeting on Feb. 8, 2021, council heard a presentation from SAGE Analytics Inc. regarding council code of conduct matters.

Council accepted the SAGE Investigation Report and related recommendations regarding code of conduct matters involving Councillor Hill.

Town officials said the report’s findings concluded that Councillor Hill breached section 4.1(d) of the Code of Conduct Bylaw 1612-2018, noting his private affairs involving both recent and past criminal charges, though unproven, were having a negative impact on the reputation of council and the community.

Hill was previously charged with mischief – damage under $5,000 in relation to a separate alleged incident on June 28, 2020.

According to court documents, Hill did not plead guilty to the charge but did enroll in alternative measures, which he completed in December 2020.

Additionally, the SAGE report findings concluded that Councillor Hill did not breach section 7.1 regarding upholding the law. Town officials pointed out that Hill had no criminal convictions, and the charges against him had not been proven in court.

As a result, Hill remained qualified to serve as a municipal councillor in accordance with the Municipal Government Act, section 174(1)(e) and the code of conduct bylaw.

Town officials said the sanctions were not intended to imply any judgement or pre-judgement on the charges Hill was facing.

Rather, they were described as a temporary suspension from committee involvement in an effort to create some professional distance between the community and Councillor Hill in his capacity as an elected official for the Town of Innisfail.

Related: Innisfail councillor facing sanctions following investigation