{"id":613,"date":"2014-02-25T10:35:57","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T15:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=613"},"modified":"2014-02-25T10:35:57","modified_gmt":"2014-02-25T15:35:57","slug":"justice-should-arthur-topham-have-sexually-assaulted-23-women-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/?p=613","title":{"rendered":"JUSTICE: Should Arthur Topham Have Sexually Assaulted 23 Women Instead?"},"content":{"rendered":"
JUSTICE: Should Arthur Topham Have Sexually Assaulted 23 Women Instead?<\/p>\n

<\/span>http:\/\/www.radicalpress.com\/?<\/span>p=4386<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

by Christopher di Armani<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

February 24, 2014<\/p>\n

ByChristopher di Armani<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

That may seem a strange title for an article about our legal system, but after reading about Campbell Ernest Crichton, the former Duncan, BC, physiotherapist who faces charges he sexually assaulted at least 23 of his former patients, it seems to be the correct title.
\nA February 21, 2014, article<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/b> in The Province<\/strong><\/span><\/i> started thus:
\nA hearing has been ordered in the case of a former physiotherapist who successfully argued he was too poor to pay for a lawyer to defend himself against charges he sexually assaulted 23 female patients.
\nLast year Campbell Ernest Crichton of Duncan, B.C., had his charges temporarily set aside after a judge found he was indigent and needed a government-funded lawyer for the complex criminal trial.
\nAnyone following my writings on Freedom of Speech will be well familiar with the case of Arthur Topham, the Quesnel, BC, publisher of
\n<\/span>RadicalPress.com<\/span><\/span><\/a>, an alternative news website.
\nMr. Topham currently faces criminal charges under Section 319(2) of the Criminal Code of Canada for \u201cinciting hatred\u201d against an identifiable group.
\nWhat, you ask, is the connection between Arthur Topham\u2019s Freedom of Speech case and an [alleged] degenerate serial sex offender?
\nQuite simply, neither man can afford legal counsel for their criminal trials.
\nIn the case of the [alleged] sex offender B.C. Supreme Court Justice Keith Bracken said there was a \u201creal and substantial\u201d risk to Crichton\u2019s right to a fair trial if if did not have legal counsel. As a result of that \u201creal and substantial\u201d risk Justice Bracken ordered Crichton be provided a government-funded lawyer.
\n<\/span>Arthur Topham is facing criminal charges for exercising his Right to Freedom of Speech. There is no \u201cvictim\u201d here other than a few people whose actions lead me to believe they self-identify as victims. Topham sexually assaulted nobody. He physically harmed nobody. He never forced a single person on Planet Earth to read what he wrote.
\nDespite those facts Arthur Topham\u2019s right to a fair trial with adequate legal counsel seems unimportant to the very same judiciary that ruled an [alleged] serial sex offender ought to have a government-funded lawyer.
\nArthur Topham is not a wealthy man. He\u2019s a modest man living on modest means in his rural home outside of Quesnel, BC. His application for legal aid was denied. His application for government funding under what is known as a Rowbotham<\/i> Application was similarly denied.
\n<\/strong>By these standards it is far more important that a sexual deviant\u2019s rights be safeguarded than a man who dared write a few words someone found objectionable.
\nThat is a very dangerous precedent to set.
\nSending a man to prison for the words he writes ought to scare the crap out of every single writer in Canada. Sure, today it\u2019s Topham\u2019s views that are \u201cpolitically incorrect\u201d and therefore fair game for our legal system, but what about tomorrow? Whose views will be deemed \u201cincorrect\u201d then? Who will stand up for you then?
\nCampbell Ernest Crichton is charged with sexually abusing 23 human beings. That is real, substantial physical and emotional trauma all for one sick man\u2019s own sexual gratification.
\nThere are real human victims.
\nArthur Topham wrote an article someone didn\u2019t like. For that the BC Hate Crimes Unit of the RCMP and the BC Attorney General want to send Mr. Topham to prison, while refusing him any chance of a true legal defense.
\nShouldn\u2019t we be far more concerned about sexual predators? Nope. We\u2019ll happily pay their legal fees and send that darned writer to prison. After all, ideas are far more dangerous than sexual predators, right?
\n<\/span>\u2014\u2013
\nChristopher di Armani is the editor and publisher of Canada\u2019s Rights and Freedom Bulletin. This article appeared in Issue No. 167, Feb. 22, 2014. Visit Mr. Armani\u2019s site at: <\/strong><\/i>http:\/\/Bulletin.<\/span><\/i>RightsAndF<\/span>reedoms.org<\/span><\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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My court battle to retain the right to publish the truth about any and all injustices is a serious and costly effort and one critical to the future of all Canadians who wish to have the same rights and freedoms. <\/span>Please consider a donation<\/span><\/span> to the <\/span>Radical Press Free <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JUSTICE: Should Arthur Topham Have Sexually Assaulted 23 Women Instead? http:\/\/www.radicalpress.com\/?p=4386 by Christopher di Armani February 24, 2014 ByChristopher di Armani \u00a0 That may seem a strange title for an article about our legal system, but after reading about Campbell … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=613"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":615,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/613\/revisions\/615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cafe.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}