In 2006, when I was 32, I was involved in a consensual relationship with a woman who was 18 at the time. Looking back, I would make different choices today. I have learned from that period, and I am not going to pretend otherwise.

The relationship ended the following year, but we continued working together for several months before the professional relationship ended.

The first criminal case began in 2009 with a charge of sexual exploitation of a minor. An extortion charge was added later. The Crown withdrew the sexual exploitation charge, and the extortion charge was reduced to criminal harassment. I pleaded guilty to criminal harassment, received a conditional discharge, and accepted responsibility for my actions.

A separate criminal case followed in 2011. Those charges went to trial, and I was acquitted.

A civil action also followed and proceeded independently. It concluded in 2018, when the remaining claims were dismissed without costs.

Today, the old allegations and headlines are still easy to find online. The outcomes take more work. That is why I am putting them on the record: what the Crown withdrew, what went to trial, what ended in acquittal, and how the civil action concluded.

The headline tells you what was alleged. The court record tells you how it ended.

I am addressing this during my campaign because I am asking Grimsby to trust me with public office. I cannot demand accountability from others if I am unwilling to be accountable for my own record.

That legal experience taught me something I have never forgotten: the first version of a story is not always the whole story. What matters is the record. You read the documents, test the facts, understand the rules, challenge assumptions, and keep asking questions until the picture is clear.

It also taught me not to be intimidated by complexity. When the stakes are high, you cannot rely on impressions, convenient explanations, or what everyone else assumes to be true. You have to do the work.

That is the approach I will bring to Council. I will read the record, understand the rules, weigh the evidence, and ask the difficult questions before making a decision. If something does not add up, I will not ignore it. And when an issue matters to the people I represent, I will stay with it until there is a clear answer and a responsible way forward.