J.D. Coon, the disgraced Ottawa child-protection lawyer who went on to molest a six-year-old client, was granted a licence to practice even though the law society knew about his child-sex crimes history.
The Law Society of Ontario gave Coon a licence in 2006, even upon learning that he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in 1991. The judge at the time gave him a conditional discharge, which means he was spared a criminal record after 15 months of probation.
Beyond the child-sex crimes guilty plea, Coon also told the law society he had spent a lot of time and money “cruising red-light districts and hiring prostitutes.”
The law society gave him a licence just the same, saying a past finding of guilt doesn’t preclude someone from practicing law.
The law society said at the time it recognized people can rehabilitate and was mostly concerned with the “present.”
Coon went on to specialize in child-protection law only to molest another child, this time a client.
Coon, 58, was arrested last Thursday for breaches of probation — notably that he befriended folks at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings only to gain access to their children, according to police.
He remains in jail awaiting a bail hearing on charges that he breached conditions to stay clear of children.
Ottawa police say they fear there could be other alleged breaches and have asked for the public’s help.
The force released an updated photo of Coon on Wednesday to “ensure the public has a current description.” Coon looks significantly different than he did in police handout photos from a decade prior, with his hair longer and lighter.
Coon abruptly stopped practising law in late 2013 amid an Ottawa police child-sex investigation, fled the country and lived as a fugitive for five years.
