Last week, Alberta’s top court ruled that a deaf man who never learned to communicate cannot be tried for sex crimes, or even assessed for mental fitness to stand trial, because it would violate his Charter rights. This means the man is functionally exempt from the Criminal Code, and is thus free to commit further offences.
Background of Kendall Longclaws
Kendall Longclaws grew up on an isolated farm with seven siblings and continues to live there, in his 30s, with his parents. He does not leave the property without them. He is deaf, cannot read, understand a calendar, or use a phone. The only word he can speak is “brother”; he can also write his name, play video games, and use grunts and rudimentary gestures that relate to his daily life, like “yes,” “sorry,” and riding horses. Beyond that, his family never taught him how to communicate.
Criminal Charges and Court Proceedings
Longclaws was charged with eight sexual offences against three complainants in 2021. The alleged acts of sexual interference and sexual assault against the first two complainants occurred between 2012 and 2016, while the third complainant was allegedly victimized in 2021. There exists little public information about them. Some, or perhaps all, were children. They have, at least at some point, close proximity to the Longclaws family because of the cloistered lifestyle of their alleged assailant.
The first and so far only attempt at trying Longclaws for sex crimes resulted in failure in 2025: King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth prematurely stayed the charges before any trial could occur, asserting that there was no legal way to handle the matter in court.
Charter Rights and Legal Reasoning
Justice Yungwirth reasoned that Longclaws needed an interpreter to see that his language rights were met as he could not understand English, and because he had no actual language to interpret English into, there was no possible way to honour this Charter right. The Crown argued that Longclaws should be assessed for his fitness to stand trial — which, if he was found to be mentally unfit, would at least result in him being taken to live in a mental hospital for as long as psychiatric authorities thought it necessary. Justice Yungwirth said that even a fitness assessment would breach Longclaws’ Charter right to liberty because his inability to communicate would make it impossible to assess his cognitive functioning.
Yungwirth went on to say that there was “no evidence” that Longclaws had any mental disorder. Indeed, he was so mentally stunted that he seemed to fall off her radar. “There is clear prejudice to the integrity of the justice system that will be manifested, perpetuated and aggravated by the continuing (sic) with the criminal proceedings against Mr Longclaws,” she wrote.
Impact and Implications
This ruling means Longclaws is functionally exempt from the Criminal Code, and is thus free to commit further offences, including sexual assault and even murder, without legal consequences. The courts have gravely failed the victims, who have no recourse for justice.
