Former Regina teacher found not guilty of sex crimes against student

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Jeffrey Dumba has been found not guilty of sexual crimes against a former student of the Regina high school where he once taught.

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Court of King’s Bench Justice Neil Robertson delivered the decision Tuesday morning, which dismissed all charges brought against the now 52-year-old.

Dumba stood accused of five offences, all dated between June 23, 2021 and Sept. 2, 2021.

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These included an allegation that he did invite, counsel or incite the alleged victim, who was under 16 at the time, to touch herself for a sexual purpose.

Other charges alleged that he communicated with a minor for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence, distributed sexually explicit material to a minor and possessed child pornography.

The complainant cannot be named due to a standard, court-ordered publication ban.

Dumba’s trial began in June and closing arguments were made by lawyers on Oct. 28.

The communications central to the charges occurred digitally, through social media and texting. It was not disputed that the teacher engaged in sexual conversation with the complainant and exchanged sexually explicit images with her.

She testified that Dumba knew she was a high school student early on in their online conversations and continued with sexual interactions after learning her full identity. He testified that she initially told him she was 20 and, once he found out otherwise, he ceased all sexual communication and disposed of all explicit images of her.

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The judge’s analysis included findings with respect to the credibility and reliability of the witnesses.

He had concerns about Dumba’s credibility, stating the former teacher used a false age on social media and lied in a police interview following arrest. The judge noted that some of Dumba’s testimony did not make sense, including his explanation for why he’d deleted electronic messages between himself and the complainant. He also questioned the reliability of Dumba’s memory.

The judge said that while he did not reject the former teacher’s evidence entirely, he was not inclined to take Dumba at his word.

However, the judge took issue with some of the complainant’s testimony as well.

He summarized testimony from the complainant’s mother that, prior to the timeframe at issue, her daughter spoke about her interest in the teacher and said she’d located his account on social media.

The complainant denied this, the judge said.

“I do not believe the complainant,” Robertson continued. “I believe her mother.”

The judge said the complainant falsely denied to police knowing the person she’d contacted on social media was Dumba. Robertson found she’d sought out Dumba to foster a relationship.

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Further, Robertson summarized the testimony of a person who was the complainant’s friend at the relevant time. The complainant told that friend about her relationship with Dumba, that the teacher did not initially know her identity, that they exchanged nude photos, and that after the teacher found out who she was he said “they could not continue,” the judge said.

“This evidence contradicts the complainant’s evidence and supports Mr. Dumba’s version of events.”

Robertson noted the complainant too had used a false birthday in a social media profile. The judge agreed that she lied about her age to Dumba, though she said she’d only told him she was a year older than her true age.

The judge said contradictions and “inconsistencies” caused him to doubt the complainant’s “veracity” and the reliability of her evidence. It would be “unsafe” to convict Dumba on her unsupported evidence, he said.

Robertson found the Crown had not proven the elements of the invitation to touching offence. He found that the elements of the remaining offences had been established by the evidence, but he also found that the defence of “mistaken belief” that the girl was of age was open to the accused man.

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Dumba took “reasonable steps” to ascertain the complainant was an adult before engaging with her sexually — or at least the Crown had not proven that he did not, Robertson found.

Based on the evidence, the judge decided that Dumba learned the girl was underage later in their online communication, after receiving a photo in which she “appeared younger and looked familiar” and caused him to question her again about her age.

“The complainant then told him who she really was,” Robertson said.

The judge said the final question he had to answer was whether — after Dumba found out the complainant’s true age — he continued exchanging sexually explicit images with her, inviting her to his house for the purpose of having sexual relations, or accessing child pornography.

“I have a reasonable doubt about that,” Robertson said.

“Given my findings, I dismiss all charges.”

bharder@postmedia.com

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