SCS assault sentencing adjourned as judge declares conflict
By Tim Kalinowski on August 26, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com A 29-year-old man who pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon for spraying a security guard in the face with the contents of a syringe at the former drug supervised consumption site is still awaiting sentencing.Cross Child’s case was supposed to take the next steps in Lethbridge provincial court on Wednesday, but had to be adjourned until Sept. 8 after presiding Judge Erin Olsen declared a conflict of interest in dealing with the case as she was the Crown who handled the original prosecution of Cross Child before being appointed to her current position.
Cross Child’s sentencing hearing will have to return to be spoken to in front of another provincial court judge after the adjournment period.
Police reported that just after 6 a.m. March 3, 2020 they responded to a report that a security guard working at the SCS in the 1000 block of 1 Avenue South had been assaulted by a client.
The guard approached a man in the waiting area who was injecting himself, but because drug use is not permitted in that area, the security guard told the man to stop and go into the supervised area. The man became upset and shot the contents of the syringe — blood and other fluids — into the security guard’s face before he was taken into custody.
The 23-year-old guard was treated at Chinook Regional Hospital and released, but required ongoing treatment afterward as a result of the exposure.
Police arrested the suspect at the SCS and seized the syringe.
The matter has been adjourned more than two dozen times since Cross Child’s arrest, in part to allow him to complete a drug treatment program. His case was also interrupted after he was sentenced to 30 days in jail for breaching conditions of his release after the incident.
-With files from Delon Shurtz Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
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