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' crimes case of former teach-'

By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN

DENISE TUPMAN says the
five: guilty verdicts handed
down in the high profile sex

er’ Tom Ellison, has provid-
ed. her with relief and confir-

mation. that her experience

with the man was wrong.
Of the 12 original charg-
es against Ellison, he was
found guilty of two counts
of-indecent assault and one
count of common assault.
He also found him guilty of

two counts of gross inde- -

cency — one of those charges
involving” Tupman asthe
victim. ey
‘Tupman: was; 17 years
‘old and describes herself as
geeky, shy and naive when
Ellison . first made sexual
_ advance toward her. A nine-
month long secret affair with
the former Prince of Wales
secondary school teacher
began — a relationship he

"told her to keep secret.
_.. Tupman testified that El-.
lison threatened to have her —
father, an administrator with .

the Vancouver School Board
at the time, fired if she. told
anyone: about their relation-
ship, §, ne?
She ended the relation-
ship: after she realized she’d
lost friends and missed out
on normal high school expe-
riences as a result of it.

“T know I was telling the
truth but there is of course
lots of doubt in other peo-
ple’s minds,” says Tupman.

“What [the judge] did for
me, is he basically said, ‘yes,

you told the truth beyond a |
shadow of a doubt and there .

was harm caused.”
In his decision, Judge
Mark Takahashi said Ellison

is incapable of fully accept- |
ing that he was “a person of .

low moral character, partic-
. ularly when dealing with fe-

male high school students.” —

“His evidence, generally,
was neither believable nor
capable of raising reason-
‘able doubt,” Judge Taka-
hashi said. ;

He did believe Tupman’s
testimony and spoke to the
fact that the effects of the re-
lationship were serious and
ongoing.

“The complainant was 17
years old, shy and naive,”
Judge Takahashi said about
Tupman. ,

“She found his attention
flattering but sensed that the
relationship was wrong.”

He went on to say that she
felt seriously affected by the
sexual encounters but spoke
to no one. a :

“The psychological ef-
fects from the encounters
continued over. 15 years,”
Judge Takahashi said.

. “Harm has been proven
beyond a reasonable doubt.” -

Having that public ac-
knowledgement that Elli-
son’s behaviour was indeed
illegal gives Tupman a sense
of peace, but she admits she
was surprised’ that Ellison
was found guilty on five of
the charges. _

“I'm in a little bit of

~ shock,” said Tupman from

her Terrace..home Friday,
Dec. 15, the day Judge Taka-
hashi made his decision.

“1 didn’t think that he
would be convicted — I’ve
been spending the week

building it up, preparing my-

self for a not guilty verdict.”
Tupman was one of three:

- 632-3313
635-511

of the Ellison’s victims that
asked to have a publication
ban lifted allowing her iden-
tity to be revealed.

Prior to lifting the publi-
cation ban, Tupman was ref-
ered to only as complainant
number three.

Tupman said at the time
that she felt her story had no
credence so long as she was
hiding behind the anonym-
ity.

In revealing her identity,

‘she felt she became more

credible as a complainant. °
Tupman says: she feels
relieved by the ‘decision
and feels badly for Ellison’s
family.
“I don’t want to use the

‘word pleased bécause that

sounds like I’m happy. I

mean, it’s horrible for him
and it’s horrible for his part-
ner and his daughter and I
feel very badly on their be-
half.” OO

Now that Ellison has .

been found guilty of several
counts, she says the sentenc-
ing doesn’t really matter, it’s
the finding of criminal guilt
that matters. .

The past several months
‘spanning Ellison’s lengthy
trial has been very difficult
for Tupman,  p

lic.

_ She says living in Terrace -

n

has been a blessing.

“. “L just wanted to say a

public thank you to all. the
wonderful people in Terrace
who have supported me and

2

j particularly
when her name became pub- »

{ Local feels vindicated §
as guilty verdicts issued

given me encouragement.

over. the last few months,”

Tupman says,’ adding she

was worried. how people
would react to her testimo-
ny. .

“You wouldn’t believe
how many people have
stopped me in the street and
shared very. private memo-
ries With me looking for ad-
vice.

“This is one of the dif-

ficulties of living in a small —
town but it’s one of the ben-.
cfits too, it’s like we're a big

family and it’s amazing the
support that I got.”

Tom Ellison’s sentencing

will occur in the new year.

The trial was one of the |

year’s major court happen-
ings in B.C, this year.

e

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 20, 2006 - A114

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