Alberta man fights federal order to surrender to U.K. for historical child sexual abuse

An Alberta man accused of historical child sexual abuse allegations is fighting an order by the federal justice minister to surrender to the United Kingdom.

Peter Murray, 88, of Wetaskiwin, about 70 kilometres south of Edmonton, is being sought by the U.K. to stand trial for allegedly physically and sexually assaulting 17 young students at boarding schools while he was a teacher in Scotland between 1965 and 1972.

In February, an Alberta Court of King’s Bench justice approved Murray’s extradition, however the decision on whether to surrender Murray ultimately rested with the federal justice minister.

On July 9, an order was issued for Murray to be surrendered, according to Justice Department spokesperson Kathlyn Moores. One day later, a notice of application for judicial review was filed with the Alberta Court of Appeal.

In court documents obtained by CBC News, Stacey Purser, Murray’s defence lawyer, argues that Justice Minister Sean Fraser reached an “unreasonable conclusion.” It said Fraser erred in surrendering a Canadian citizen on allegations that are more than 60 years old and failed to conduct his own independent inquiry into whether Murray was “sufficiently identified” as the person being sought for the offences.

Purser is seeking to have the order of surrender set aside so Murray is either discharged or the matter is sent back to the federal justice minister for further review.

The matter is set to be heard June 10, 2027.

Purser declined an interview request but said in an email that her client is out on bail.

Historical allegations

In court documents, Murray has strongly denied the accusations, which are detailed in the Feb. 18 decision by Court of King’s Bench Justice T.G. Rothwell, who approved the extradition.

They stem from incidents involving a monk named Brother Peter at two schools: St. Ninian’s List D School in Gartmore and St. Joseph’s List D School in Tranent. Both schools were operated by the De La Salle Order, a Roman Catholic religious order.

The document includes a slew of allegations, including from a then nine-year-old child that Brother Peter inappropriately touched him, that Brother Peter sexually assaulted another boy weekly who was between 11 and 13 years old at the time, and that Brother Peter repeatedly punched or slapped a different child when he was between nine and 12 years old.

Murray is accused of being Brother Peter.

In court documents, Murray has said he has been living in Canada for more than 50 years and, having worked as a teacher and vice-principal in Alberta, “has never been accused of acting inappropriately with any child.”

No charges have been laid. In Scotland, charges are released when an accused appears in court. 

Process of extradition

According to information on the federal justice department’s website, if the Court of Appeal upholds the decisions of both the extradition judge and the minister, the individual may seek leave to appeal one or both decisions to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Conversely, the website states that at any stage of the extradition process, the individual may waive their rights under the Extradition Act and be immediately removed to the requesting state or they could also consent to surrender.

In an interview with CBC News in March, Rob Currie, a law professor at Dalhousie University, said Canada has had extradition agreements with the U.K. for a long time.

He said the obligation for extradition is no different for a case involving historical allegations or current ones. 

“The U.K. has to present a summary of the evidence that it has that indicates that a crime took place, and that it’s the kind of crime that would go to trial here in Canada if it had taken place here,” Currie said.

However, he said that in Canada, the law is “tilted towards extradition.”

“The government has been criticized and the law has been criticized because they are too focused on extradition instead of trying to balance the need to co-operate with foreign states, which is important, with protecting the rights of the individual here in Canada,” Currie said.