More than two years after a judge cleared her name and criticized the police investigation that upended her life, Ashley Jansen is still waiting for accountability. The Ontario woman, wrongfully accused of sexually assaulting a student, now faces a mounting legal debt and a continued battle in the courts.
A Life Shattered by Unfounded Allegations
Ashley Jansen's world collapsed in September 2022. Children's Aid Society workers arrived at her door with the devastating news that she was under police investigation and could no longer be alone with her own five children. Just three weeks later, Durham Regional Police charged her with sexual assault and sexual interference. The allegations claimed she had intercourse with an 11-year-old student on the last day of school in 2018, inside the Clarington school where she worked as an education assistant.
"It's like having a scarlet letter," Jansen said. "I was accused of doing the worst thing you could possibly be accused of." The charges were made public despite what a judge would later call a profoundly inadequate investigation.
A Judge's Scathing Critique of the Investigation
In November 2023, Ontario Court Justice Peter Tetley acquitted Jansen and delivered a stern rebuke of the police work. He found the boy's story had changed repeatedly and was filled with "inherent discrepancies" that were never properly examined.
The judge noted that even basic facts were not checked. The boy claimed the assault happened in a locked room, but police never visited the school to see that the door in question did not have a lock at the time. Jansen also had a medical condition that would have made intercourse impossible, a detail overlooked. Colleagues, who had been instructed by the school board not to speak to police, later testified the accuser was known to be "untrustworthy, impulsive, manipulative, and deceitful."
Justice Tetley concluded the case was a "cautionary example" of injustice occurring when available investigative steps are not pursued. He highlighted the severe consequences for Jansen: loss of employment, reputation, and restrictions on caring for her children, compounded by immense mental and marital stress.
The Ongoing Legal and Personal Battle
The fallout from the false accusations continues to dominate Jansen's life. She and her husband, Ken, are now over $300,000 in debt from legal fees. In June 2024, they filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Durham Regional Police, the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, and the now-adult accuser. Their claims include damages for malicious prosecution and negligent investigation.
"It crushed her," Ken Jansen said of his wife. "She's a different person, a different wife, a different mother. She's a shell. She's taking medication to not kill herself."
Jansen, now 38, has returned to work as an alternative care worker, a job she does out of necessity to repay the staggering debt. "I really loved what I did and now I just do it because I have to," she explained.
Their quest for accountability has hit another roadblock. The accuser's father filed an anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) motion, arguing that including his son in the lawsuit violates his right to expression on a matter of public interest. This motion has stalled the Jansens' lawsuit for over a year and cost them an additional $100,000 to fight. A decision is expected in January 2026.
For Ashley Jansen, the fight is not primarily about money. "There's not an amount of money that is going to settle the brokenness inside me," she said. Her goal is simpler, yet seemingly elusive: answers, an apology, and an acknowledgement of mistakes to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else.
"I'm lucky I lived through this," Jansen said softly, reflecting on the darkest days of her ordeal. "I've seen the days when I didn't want to be here anymore." Her case remains a stark reminder of the lasting damage wrought by a failed investigation, with the search for justice and healing still ongoing.
