Former Sask. educational assistant found guilty on all charges in sexual exploitation case

WATCH: A former educational assistant has been found guilty of all six charges in a sexual exploitation case. Sierra D’Souza Butts has the details.

Stacey Duke, the former educational assistant on trial for sexual exploitation charges, has been found guilty on all six counts.

In a decision delivered Wednesday morning at Court of King’s Bench in Regina, Duke was found guilty of two counts of exploiting teenagers for a sexual purpose, two counts of making explicit material available, and two counts of luring a child.

Immediately after the jury announced their verdict and were dismissed, Duke erupted into tears.

Duke’s husband sat by her side as the verdict was read. In response to the decision, he shouted “this is a horrendous mistake.”

During Duke’s testimony earlier in the trial, she testified she was suffering with alcoholism and severe depression at the time of the offences.

Both families of the complainants were present and said they were gratified by the jury’s decision.

“I’m just glad the jury did a good job and proved that they [youth] were honest and reliable,” a parent of the first complainant told reporters, who cannot be named due to a publication ban on the victims.

“Stacey [Duke] will be off our roads and our kids won’t be harmed in school or on the highways anymore.”

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The parent added that it was hard at times to watch the week-long trial.

“It was very difficult as a parent learning what happened in your home. It’s very difficult knowing that person is still in your community,” they said.

“I’m just very satisfied that justice was served.”

The offences occurred while Duke was working as an educational assistant at Vibank Regional School in the fall of 2022.

Both alleged victims were 17 years old at the time of the offence and cannot be named due to a publication ban imposed by the court.

Throughout the trial, the court heard from five Crown witnesses – two being the youth who are making the claims, two being friends of the complainants, and the other being the RCMP officer who investigated the initial report.

As per a request from the defence, sentencing was adjourned. Proceedings are expected to restart in several months.

Neither the defence nor the Crown indicated how long Duke’s potential sentence may be.

However, Duke will face a separate sentence for each of the six charges she was found guilty of.