(file photo/BattlefordsNOW staff)

By Ryan Lambert

saskatchewan courts

Overturned conviction of Neilburg school principal will stand, but Court of Appeal says new trial still possible

Dec 29, 2025 | 5:00 PM

Crown Prosecutors in North Battleford were not able to convince the Court of Appeal to change a ruling that overturned the conviction of a high school principal for sexual assault on one of his students, but they can still pursue a second trial.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal denied the Crown’s appeal and said that the decision of a Court of King’s Bench judge to overturn Neilburg Principal Geoffrey McFArlan’s conviction will remain.

A North Battleford Provincial Court judge convicted McFarlan and sentenced him to six-months in custody, followed by two-years probation at North for a 2021 sexual assault on a 12-year-old student.

However, the ruling was overturned by the King’s Bench in Nov. 2024 after it was determined that the trial judge misapprehended evidence in the original case.

The conviction came after the complainant reported that someone grabbed her buttocks in a crowded school hallway as she was gathering something in her locker. She did not explicitly see who grabbed her, but saw McFarlan walking away. Two other students testified that they saw the touch, which led to the conviction.

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It was overturned due to the trial judge misapprehending evidence because of the following pieces left out.

– The hallway was crowded with at least 40 students.

– There were reports of Grade 7 students engaging in a “butt-grabbing” game where students would grab each other’s buttocks.

Due to this information, judge Brenda Hildebrandt determined that there is a possibility that somebody other than McFarlan could have done it.

In order to be successful, the appeal would have needed to raise a question of law that impacted the administration of justice beyond McFarlan’s case, or show that denying the appeal would cause an injustice. In a written statement by justice Jillyne M. Drennan on behalf of a three-judge panel, it was determined that the appeal did not do so.

While the appeal was denied, McFarlan was not fully acquitted. Should the crown wish to retry their case, they are able to do so in North Battleford Provincial Court.