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A Saskatchewan court has ordered a new trial on three of six criminal charges against a former educational assistant who was convicted in 2025 of sexually exploiting two 17-year-old boys.
The Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan released its decision Monday in the case of Stacey Duke, who was found guilty by a jury of two counts each of sexual exploitation, child luring, and making explicit material available to a child. She was sentenced to 28 months in prison, and must register as a sex offender.
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Duke had worked as an educational assistant at Vibank Regional School.
A publication ban protects the identities of the students, who can be identified only as A.A. and B.B. Duke admitted to the conduct involving B.B. but denied any communications with A.A.
In Duke’s appeal, the three-judge panel unanimously upheld the convictions related to A.A., finding the evidence of Duke’s position of trust and authority over him was clear.
However, the court found the trial judge’s instructions to the jury were inadequate regarding the charges involving B.B.
Because B.B. had left Duke’s school nearly three years before the incident and had little contact with her in the intervening period, the question of whether a meaningful relationship of trust still existed was central to the case.
Justice Jerome Tholl, writing for the court, found the jury was not given sufficient guidance on how to assess whether that relationship had effectively dissolved over time.
“Given the tenuous connection that remained between Ms. Duke and B.B.,” Tholl wrote, the trial judge was obligated to provide a more detailed framework for the jury’s analysis.
The Crown’s appeal seeking harsher sentences was dismissed. The court found the 16-month sentence for the A.A. offences, while appearing to sit at the low end of the appropriate range, did not cross the threshold required for appellate intervention.
The decision says that while a new trial should be ordered in regards to B.B., the DNA submission and requirement to register as a sex offender should remain in place.
Duke was released on bail last June as she awaited the outcome of her appeal, but must surrender herself to RCMP in Weyburn by 10 a.m. on Wednesday to begin serving her sentence on the upheld convictions.
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