(Today’s Northumberland file photo)
Ashley Jansen is still seeking justice after being acquitted sexual assault and sexual interference involving a student in Durham Region.
The Hamilton Township resident and former teacher’s aide was charged in September 2022 with the allegations stating the incident occurred in 2018 with a student at a Durham elementary school.
Jansen had been employed with the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board from 2010 to 2021
The allegations not only cost Jansen her job, public embarrassment as the story went provincial, but one of the worst parts was the Children’s Aid Society order barring her from being alone with her own children.
After being acquitted of the charges in November 2023, Justice P. Tetley came out with harsh words for Durham Police and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
Tetley gave supplementary reasons in December 2023 for his judgement harshly calling into question both the investigation and the school board.
“The inconsistencies in the various accounts provided by the complainant in relation to the date of the offence, the clothes worn, the characteristics of the room and the subsequent disclosure of the events to others, no meaningful consideration of the various challenges faced by the complainant at the time seems to have been considered or investigated prior to the complaint being acted upon.”
Tetley said he concluded, “the complainant’s account to have been fabricated or contrived.”
“The inherent inconsistencies in the varied reports offered of the incident are concluded to be hallmarks of an attempt to recount an incident that never took place and a seeming unwillingness of the officer in charge of the subsequent police investigation to question the veracity of the complaint at the expense of a fellow investigator and the detriment of the defendant.”
“In contrast, the defendant’s account is concluded to go well beyond the creation of a reasonable doubt in relation to the offences alleged. I accept the defendant’s denial without reservation. The defendant’s relationship with the complainant was a challenging one given the compromised state of the complainant’s mental health at the time and his known propensity for violence, falsehood, self-aggrandizement, and behavioural disturbance.”
At the time of the criminal charges Tetley said the investigating officer, Rabishaw never visited the school or had timely interviews with the teacher of the student.
“This judgement serves as a cautionary example as to the fact an injustice can occur when appropriate and available investigative steps are not pursued.”
Jansen and her family have filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit for damages and accountability against several parties involved including the youth, the Durham Police Services Board, the Durham Police Service, the investigating officer Amanda Rabishaw and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board.
On Tuesday, December 9, 2025 the father of the youth is seeking a section under the Ontario’s Courts and Justice Act to have Jansen’s claim dismissed under what is called “anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) legislation.
That aim to silence expression on matters of public interest, encouraging free speech by allowing defendants to move for early dismissal if the case stems from public debate, shifting the burden to the plaintiff to prove the case has substantial merit and no valid defense.
The defendant must convince the judge the lawsuit arises from their “expression” (broadly defined) related to a “matter of public interest”.
If the threshold is met, the plaintiff must then prove, on a balance of probabilities, that:
The case has substantial merit (is a serious claim).
The defendant has no valid defense.
The public interest in allowing the case to proceed outweighs the public interest in free expression.
Today’s Northumberland has received several court documents surrounding the court action that is to take place in Oshawa on Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
The name of the youth is protected because of his age and is known as J.T. in the correspondence. N.T. is known as the father in the correspondence.
The original Statement of Claim by Jansen and members of her family states that in August 2022 J.T. contacted DRPS and “falsely and maliciously accused Jansen of having sexually assaulted him in 2018.”
“The plaintiffs state that without conducting any meaningful investigation into the merits of the allegations, officers of the DRPS, including Rabishaw arrested and charged Jansen with sexual assault and sexual touching.”
Over the next 14 months Jansen was the subject of restrictive bail conditions.
“The plaintiffs further state that the DRPS publicized the fact that Jansen had been charged with a sexual offence against a minor, “and implied that there could be other such victims.”
In November 2023 Jansen, “was fully and completely exonerated of all charges against her.”
Jansen states DRPS were “negligent in their investigation…which contributed to the laying of charges against her.”
“(a)They failed to meaningfully question the complainant as to parts of his story, that were illogical and did not bear up to reasonable scrutiny;
(b)they failed to attend at, and examine the layout of, the room where the assault was alleged to have occurred, which would have allowed them to confirm the description of the alleged assault did not match;
(c)they failed to interview independent witnesses who could have provided exculpatory evidence;
(d)they failed to follow up on or further investigation inconsistencies in the evidence given by the complainant;
(e)they rushed to judgement and presumed the guilt of the said plaintiff without reasonably, impartially, and meaningfully assessing the evidence, when there was no time sensitivity or urgency;
(f)they failed to follow their own policies for investigation such allegations, or in the alternative, the policies they had were deficient;
(g)they failed to investigate the alleged offences faithfully, impartially and according to law.”
Jansen also states, the negligence of the KPRDSB and its representatives, “in directing its staff members not to cooperate with the defence of the false charges against Jansen, and specifically, not to provide information as to the background of J.T., when they knew or out to have known such staff members could provide exculpatory evidence, and which further hampered the said plantiff’s defence of the charges against her.”
The Statement of Claim states Jansen incurred significant legal expenses to defend the charges against her.
“She was deprived of the opportunity to interact with her own children, and faced the prospect of being criminally convicted and imprisoned for acts of which she was entirely innocent. Her reputation was ruined in the community, and she has suffered an interference in her ability to obtain future employment.”
“This is not an action for defamation. It is for intentially and maliciously misleading the police to pursue false criminal charges,” states Jansen’s claim.
“The first step on this motion should be to determined whether J.T.’s allegations were the truth or a lie.
The fact that the allegations were completely fabricated has already be(en) adjudicated in the criminal trial.”
Jansen’s Statement of Claim says that J.T. had a “troubled history” at the school.
“J.T. was well known by the School Board and its employees.”
Suffering from “serious behavioural challenges,” that, “manifested themselves in regular emotions outbursts of a violent nature, rendering it unsafe for J.T. to be in the company of others unsupervised.
J.T.’s behaviours at school could escalate and become violent without any warning and with little provocation. He was untrustworthy, impulsive, unpredictable, manipulative, deceitful and prone to blaming others for his own shortcomings.”
“School officials determined and issued directives that the complainant J.T. should not be left alone with any one person, and that he was prone to violent aggressive outbursts.”
A witness at Jansen’s trial stated, “in his thirty years of experience, J.T. was the worst student he had encountered in behaviour.”
“He was a student that they always had to have their eyes on at all times. The school had a “safety plan” to deal with J.T.’s troubling and violent behaviours.”
“J.T. was verbally and physically aggressive, would break things, and there were incidents involving him every week.”
“Protocols required that if J.T. ever left the classroom there would have to always be two staff members with him. The staff persons wore walkie talkies to communicate and be notified when they had to come and act as the second person.”
“If and when J.T. started to act up, Ashley would radio for help to deal with him.”
“J.T. would consistently lie about anything.”
“J.T. would become violent whenever he didn’t get his own way. He would curse and swear, scream and yell to the point where you’d have to be escorted to a separate room.”
Another teacher testified that, “J.T. had assaulted a vice principal at the school.”
“Parents were concerned about the safety of their children in the same classroom.”
Numerous parents approached the teacher indicating they wanted their children kept away from J.T.
Specific aggressive acts included:
(a)physically assaulted staff and students: punching, kicking, biting, spitting, headbutting, threatening to kill
(b) used classroom items as weapons: pencils, rulers, erasers, chalk, parts of a heater, a butter knife held to a peer’s throat.
(c)property destruction, throwing objects, ripping things off walls, smashing a whiteboard with a fire extinguisher, setting of the extinguisher
(d) Threats of serious harm: made multiple threats including, “I’m going to kill you,” directed at both staff and students.
Numerous violence reports and NVCPI reports were filled by staff (Jansen filed at least 12).
Staff (especially Jansen) experienced fear and physical injury (Jansen was punched in the face)
The Vice Principal took leave after being assaulted.
Jansen has been diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Unspecified Trauma and Stressor-related Disorder.
She is under a number of medications and in therapy.
Jansen and her family continue to experience impairments in their daily functioning experiencing daily anxiety that paralyzes her.
“The traumatic events have completely changed/ruined her life.”
“She describes being subject to a prolonged period of public shaming, feeling shattered, destroyed and broken. She was publicly identified as a “serial pedophile” and compared to “Karla Homolka,” which led to severe nervous shock, anxiety and major depressive disorder.”
The background facts from the motion to dismiss the claim state that the former student made the complaint four years after he had left the school. The Durham Regional Police Service interviewed him on three occasions and determined there was “reasonable and probable grounds to charge.”
Jansen was charged on September 21, 2022 and acquitted of the charge on November 24, 2023.
The statement of claim states that, “one or more of the Plaintiffs (Jansen) has engaged in a malicious and public interest campaign vilifying J.T. and J.T.’s family.”
The Statement of Claim by Jansen served on J.T. in the summer of 2024 states, Jansen, “have sued J.T. in malicious prosecution, as well as suing the DRPS for negligent investigation ad the school board for negligence.”
“The law is clear that even if a complainant is lying, no action in malicious prosecution lies against them where the police are able to investigate and exercise a discretion to charge.”
The Statement of Claim adds that J.T. is a “vulnerable person with disabilities,” and “The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly recognized that persons with disabilities are at a high risk of being targeted for sexual victimization.”
“In my view, this lawsuit will discourage children from coming forward when they have experienced sexual abuse by persons in authority over them, including teachers and other school employees.”
Exclusive – Video – Former Educational Assistant A Survivor of a False Sexual Assault Allegation
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
