A Saskatchewan man who kept his daughter away from her mother to prevent the child from getting the COVID-19 vaccine has been found guilty of violating a custody order arrangement with his ex-wife.
Michael Gordon Jackson did not return his daughter to the mother, who had primary custody, after a weekend visit in November 2021. The girl was 7 years old at the time, according to
CBC News.
Police found the two in Vernon, B.C., in February 2022.
At Regina’s Court of King’s Bench, Mr. Jackson said he had taken the girl to prevent the mother from giving her the COVID-19 vaccine. He told the court he believed the vaccine would harm his daughter.
“The father was concerned the mother would not listen to his opposition to the vaccine and was further concerned she was taking no independent steps to research the appropriateness and the efficacy of the vaccine,” court documents
said.
During his testimony, Mr. Jackson told the court his daughter had a respiratory illness and had used a puffer for a time, the National Post
reported. He said he had tried for eight months to engage the girl’s mother in a discussion about the vaccine but she had not responded to his questions.
A custody order gave the girl’s mother the final decision-making authority about the vaccine.
The mother, Mariecar Jackson,
told the court that Mr. Jackson had been asking her for her opinion on the vaccine for months, but she said she was waiting for direction from the Saskatchewan government.
The court also heard that after Mr. Jackson refused to return the child, Ms. Jackson
agreed to sign an affidavit saying she would not vaccinate the girl.
Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown directed the 12-person jury not to focus on the vaccine issue, but rather to make a decision on whether Mr. Jackson deliberately withheld the girl from the mother.
“It is not for you, the jury, to decide this case based upon whether or not the COVID-19 vaccine is or is not dangerous, whether it does or it does not have negative side effects, or whether or not individuals should be or should not be vaccinated,” the judge
reportedly told them.
The justice also told the jury they needed to consider if it had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Jackson had intended to deprive Ms. Jackson of the child, despite his reasons for doing so.
It took less than three hours for the jury to bring back a guilty verdict, media reports indicate. No sentencing date was set.
Court
documents note that a judge ordered Mr. Jackson to return the child to her mother on Nov. 26, 2021. The order also indicated that police enforce it. Mr. Jackson appealed the decision but was not successful.
On Jan. 5, 2022, a judge granted sole custody and decision-making authority to Ms. Jackson on an interim basis.
Justice M.T. Megaw found Mr. Jackson in contempt of court and
sentenced him to 60 days in jail. He was held in custody until Feb. 13, 2023, according to
appeal court documents. When he was released, the conditions included that he have no contact with the child or the mother, except through a legal professional.
