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A lawyer representing Edmonton religious chief John de Ruiter is criticizing a police resolution to put sexual assault fees towards his shopper’s spouse, arguing it might be a bid to persuade her to “flip” on her husband.
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Leigh Ann de Ruiter, 64, was arrested Monday on three counts of sexual assault linked to the actions of John de Ruiter, who Edmonton police in January charged with 4 sexual assaults.
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Leigh Ann de Ruiter is accused of facilitating three of the ladies her husband, the founding father of a religious neighborhood known as the Oasis Group, is accused of sexually assaulting between 2017 and 2020. Police declare John de Ruiter advised the complainants that having intercourse with him would assist them receive religious enlightenment.
Dino Bottos, who’s representing each husband and spouse till Leigh Ann de Ruiter is ready to discover unbiased authorized counsel, criticized how police have dealt with the case.
“I’m very involved concerning the police’s conduct right here,” he stated shortly after de Ruiterwas granted bail from the Edmonton Remand Centre Wednesday afternoon.
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“I assumed it was moderately heavy handed.”
Bottos stated he may see no purpose for the 50-day hole between the costs laid towards John de Ruiter and Leigh Ann de Ruiter.
“That is primarily based on the identical allegations that got here ahead nearly a 12 months in the past, in March of 2022, by these 4 complainants,” Bottos stated. “The police have had now nearly 12 months to determine their circumstances and who was to be charged.”
Police have recognized about Leigh Ann de Ruiter’s involvement in her husband’s sexual actions “all through” the investigation, Bottos claimed.
“It’s the identical proof, primarily based on the identical allegations. Nothing has modified, there’ve been no developments to point out that Ms. de Ruiter has completed something. The police knew what she did for a very long time now, and selected to not cost her.”
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“That causes me to ask, ‘Why now?’” Bottos stated. “It causes me to surprise, was this primarily based on an try to show Ms. de Ruiter towards Mr. de Ruiter, in an try and trigger her to flip? As a result of they knew all alongside of her involvement, and selected to not cost her to start with.”
John de Ruiter, 63, is a shoemaker by commerce who started attracting followers as a religious instructor within the Nineteen Nineties. He later based the Oasis Group and its offshoot the Faculty of Built-in Philosophy, which operated out of the ornate Oasis Centre in west Edmonton till its sale in 2021.
In response to his web site, de Ruiter’s teachings give attention to “softness of coronary heart and core-splitting honesty,” and have attracted followers from all over the world. Previous to the pandemic de Ruiter held weekly conferences on the Oasis Centre during which he would stare silently at followers.
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Bottos stated the case towards John de Ruiter relies on allegations that the 4 complainants initially consented to intercourse, however “have been subjected to his energy and affect over them, promising them some increased type of spirituality or enlightenment.”
John de Ruiter has confronted questions on his sexual practices prior to now, along with his web site acknowledging he has engaged in “consensual sexual relations with girls past the normal scope of marriage.”
Bottos advised the choice to cost Leigh Ann de Ruiter may point out a weak point within the case towards his shopper.
He additionally criticized how Edmonton police dealt with de Ruiter’s arrest, noting she was taken into custody at her house as a substitute of being invited to give up herself at a police station. She spent two nights within the Edmonton Remand Centre after police opposed bail, just for the Crown to consent to bail Wednesday, Bottos stated.
As a part of her launch, de Ruiter shall be required to report commonly to a bail supervisor, along with quite a lot of different normal bail situations.
She can be prohibited from “arranging, inviting, counselling or facilitating any sexual actions” between John de Ruiter and “any feminine individual.”
John de Ruiter was granted bail in late January.
Trial dates haven’t been set. Each de Ruiters are subsequent in court docket March 29.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Danker declined to remark.
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