Closing arguments heard in case of Halifax dentist, 82, accused of slapping child patients

A judge will rule in November whether a Halifax-area dentist is guilty of assaulting child patients decades ago, parsing opposing arguments made this week by the prosecution and defence over the reliability of testimony and the role a Facebook group may have played.

Dr. Errol Gaum, 82, appeared in Halifax provincial court Monday for final submissions in his trial, which heard evidence over several days in May. He is accused of slapping patients when they were children, with the earliest allegation dating back to 1970.

Defence lawyer Nick Fitch argued the charges should be dismissed. He questioned whether the "events" even occurred and, if they did, whether Gaum was the dentist who inflicted them. Even if he was, it was "done to protect the child from harm."

"Pediatric dentists are a specialist dentist that is referred the most difficult patients. These are children with behavioural issues that fight, bite, kick and are often sedated," Fitch said in his written submissions. 

"There is no doubt that dentistry of combative children, particularly when these matters occurred, was not pretty. It is easy to imagine why a child may interpret an experience that involves pain, scary tools, restriction and harsh tones as an assault."

Gaum was charged in early 2022, a little more than a year after his licence was suspended after allegations of misconduct emerged, including that he used excessive force while treating child patients.

The defence has raised concerns about the role of a Facebook group about Gaum set up in the wake of the allegations being made public, with some witnesses testifying to being active on the page. It included photos of Gaum, and there were discussions about litigation.

Judge Elizabeth Buckle, who has reserved her decision in the case for Nov. 20, said the issue is whether there was inadvertent "tainting" in the case.

The court heard testimony from six alleged former patients. Gaum is formally charged with assaulting four of them, with two others giving "similar fact evidence."

Prosecutor Stephen Anstey argued that evidence from each alleged victim corroborates the others. Each testified that Gaum became angry while treating them and then slapped them across the face. Five of the six testified he told them to "shut up."

Anstey said the testimony of each has "striking similarities," even though they described events at different points during the 1970s and 1980s, and he argued the witnesses are telling the same story because they are "telling the truth."

He argued their recollections of what happened were not affected by stories they read in the news or on Facebook about other people's experiences with Gaum. He said there's no evidence to support the idea any of them fabricated their stories or are motivated by money.

"Each of our witnesses testified that while they had seen other stories online, it had not changed what had happened," Anstey said outside the courtroom. 

"The vast majority of our witnesses further testified that prior to this story coming out in 2020, they had told other people about this beforehand. And our argument is that you can't make up something from seeing a story in 2020 if you've told somebody about it prior to 2020."

Gaum faced five assault charges at the beginning of trial. But the Crown dropped the prosecution of one because of issues surrounding the particular date of the alleged assault and provisions in the Criminal Code at the time.