Boy not guilty of assaulting & robbing Mitchell Wilson
Posted March 5, 2012 10:44 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A 13-year-old boy has been found not guilty of robbing and assaulting Pickering boy Mitchell Wilson, who later took his own life.
Wilson’s voice was heard in court when Judge Mary Teresa Devlin ruled last month that statements he made to police about his alleged attacker could be entered as evidence at the trial.
But Devlin said Monday that evidence alone wasn’t enough to convict the accused teen, citing the dangers of distorted eye witness evidence. The teen’s identity can’t be disclosed under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Mitchell Wilson’s father, Craig Wilson, expressed his disappointment with the verdict outside the Oshawa courthouse Monday morning.
“I understand the verdict and … I’m disappointed, but the law is the law,” he said.
“Karma always comes around to get the ones that get away, right?”
The boy was accused of beating Wilson, 11, in November 2010 and of stealing the iPhone his dad had lent him.
Wilson, who had muscular dystrophy and relied on a walker, suffered some broken teeth in the alleged attack. After he told police about being assaulted he fell into depression and began suffering from panic attacks.
The youngster took his own life on Sept. 6, 2011, hours after receiving a subpoena to testify against his alleged attacker. The boy’s father found his son’s lifeless body in his bed. He had tied a plastic bag around his head.
The father said despite the outcome, he hoped his son’s story will highlight the problem of bullying.
“I think there’s been a lot of positives across the communities with this story and hopefully we don’t get any children taking their lives,” he said, “and hopefully put an end to, or at least cut down on the bullying that goes on in the classroom, homes and in workplaces and so forth.”
Shortly after she delivered her verdict, Justice Devlin said she hopes the youths involved will come forward and take responsibility for their actions. She also said she hopes Mitchell’s family will one day find peace.
