A Halifax provincial court judge on Thursday has acquitted the 83-year-old retired pediatric dentist Dr. Errol Gaum of assaulting four child patients for incidents alleged to have occurred in the 1970s and ’80s.
The allegations gained public attention after former patients created a Facebook group titled The victims of Dr. ERROL GAUM (public), which had about 2,800 members as of July, according to earlier reporting.
In delivering her decision, Judge Elizabeth Buckle said she was not satisfied the Crown had proven the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, CBC reported.
She acknowledged the verdict may be hard for the complainants to accept but emphasized that Canada’s criminal justice system presumes an accused person is innocent and places a high burden on the Crown to prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
“I have not concluded these incidents did not happen. All I have found is that I have a reasonable doubt. That was my sole task. As such, I find Mr. Gaum not guilty on all counts,” the judge said.
The judge also explained that she doesn’t believe that there was “any intentional collusion or collaboration here.”
“However, there is a high risk of unintentional and perhaps even unconscious tainting. All complainants and similar-act witnesses were exposed to at least some information related to allegations that Dr. Gaum had assaulted children, from news articles and accounts on social media.”
Meanwhile, Crown prosecutor Rick Anstey said the decision will be reviewed to determine whether there are legal grounds for an appeal. He added that if police later find reasonable grounds involving other complainants, nothing would prevent new charges from being laid, The Chronicle Herald reported.
Gaum’s trial began in May. He originally faced five counts of assault involving four former patients, but one charge was previously dropped on a technicality. The case began after Gaum’s dentistry licence was suspended in November 2020, following more than 100 complaints to Halifax Regional Police alleging misconduct over nearly five decades. In March 2022, police laid 10 charges involving seven complainants.