TORONTO – A hearing has been set for June 18 at the Ontario Court of Appeal in Toronto for Roy Preston who was sentenced in April of last year in the sexual assault of Destiny Douglas, who waived her rights to a publication ban to have her story known.
As has been reported previously by this newspaper, Roy Preston was sentenced to three years in jail last April for the 2015 sexual assault of his junior colleague, Ms. Douglas, while they were employed by a local security company. Mr. Preston was 46 at the time and Ms. Douglas was 19.
The assault took place on the Manitoulin Country Fest grounds on August 1, 2015 while the security detail was hired for the Little Current Lions Club’s Haweater Weekend festivities. The security company was using the grounds as a camping spot while working in the community.
The court heard that it was during a staff party following their shift that the violent assault took place.
Mr. Preston’s lawyer Margaret Bojanowska told the court last April that Ms. Douglas and Mr. Preston had consensual sex that night and that Ms. Douglas pressed charges for financial gain.
Ms. Douglas shared with the court during the sentencing hearing that following the assault she has lived with a series of health problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She now works to encourage other survivors to come forward and share their stories through her Facebook page Life After – Inspirational.
In 2003 Mr. Preston, then an officer with the Toronto Police Service (TPS), was convicted with assault for punching a Somali refugee, an event that was caught on video. For this conviction, Mr. Preston served a 30-day jail term and was dismissed as a police officer with the TPS.
Along with the three-year jail term, Mr. Preston was also sentenced to having no communication of any sort with Ms. Douglas while he serves his term, that he submits his DNA and spends 20 years on the sex offenders’ registry list and he was further ordered 10 years’ prohibition from owning or carrying a firearm.
Mr. Preston was then released on bail.
On April 10, 2018, before his sentencing, Mr. Preston filed an appeal. The hearing, where Mr. Preston and his attorney will argue the merits of that appeal, will be heard in Toronto June 18.
