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Canadian Woman Arrested On Witchcraft Charges
Dorie Stevenson, 32, of Milton, Ontario was arrested on charges of “pretending to practice witchcraft.” That’s right. Stevenson, who owns the shop Milton Psychic, was arrested for being a fake witch. It’s gone from “you’re a witch so you’re under arrest” to “you’re not a witch, so you’re under arrest.”
Canada still, amazingly, has a few witchcraft laws still on the books, and Stevenson was charged under Canadian criminal code 365, which reads:
365 - Every one who fraudulently:
(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,
(b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or
(c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Now before you start thinking that Canada did a bad, bad thing here and arrested someone just for beliefs that go against mainstream acceptance, we should look at the other charges levied against Dorie Stevenson: extortion and fraud over $5,000. According to Ontario police, the investigation began in May of this year when a victim came forward and detailed how they had been scammed out of $60,000 dollars by the supposed psychic.
Detective Sergeant Dave Costantini detailed the scam in a press release:
Why did she have to be charged for witchcraft and not just extortion and fraud?
Maybe she is a criminal, and there are a ton of fraudulent criminals pretending to be psychics and witches, but there are plenty of fortune tellers and self proclaimed witches and magicians who aren’t. Whether you believe in the stuff or not, it doesn’t matter. If someone devotes their life to studying tarot cards and someone who believes in the validity of tarot cards gives them $10 for a reading, should that tarot reader be arrested? If you believe in magick and give your spooky friend $20 to come over and ward your house from evil spirits, is that fraud or is that just goofy?
If you know what these cards mean, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are already on their way.
It just seems that these laws have huge potential for abuse in the wrong hands. With more people than ever before saying that they practice witchcraft or magick of some sort, and things in the news like an attempt to hex a supreme court justice and a church’s subsequent response with magical warfare of their own, maybe we should be careful with the laws we leave on the books. However, there is a bill in Canada now to repeal the witchcraft laws, which will hopefully be passed soon. After all, the future is unwritten, and things can quickly get weird.
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Dorie Stevenson, 32, of Milton, Ontario was arrested on charges of “pretending to practice witchcraft.” That’s right. Stevenson, who owns the shop Milton Psychic, was arrested for being a fake witch. It’s gone from “you’re a witch so you’re under arrest” to “you’re not a witch, so you’re under arrest.”
Canada still, amazingly, has a few witchcraft laws still on the books, and Stevenson was charged under Canadian criminal code 365, which reads:
365 - Every one who fraudulently:
(a) pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or conjuration,
(b) undertakes, for a consideration, to tell fortunes, or
(c) pretends from his skill in or knowledge of an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything that is supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found,
is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Now before you start thinking that Canada did a bad, bad thing here and arrested someone just for beliefs that go against mainstream acceptance, we should look at the other charges levied against Dorie Stevenson: extortion and fraud over $5,000. According to Ontario police, the investigation began in May of this year when a victim came forward and detailed how they had been scammed out of $60,000 dollars by the supposed psychic.
Detective Sergeant Dave Costantini detailed the scam in a press release:
OK, so she’s allegedly a crook who took advantage of vulnerable people and got nailed for it. If she’s guilty, then good. That’s not a cool thing to do to people. In fact, it’s truly awful. There are a couple concerning things about this, though.
Why did she have to be charged for witchcraft and not just extortion and fraud?
Maybe she is a criminal, and there are a ton of fraudulent criminals pretending to be psychics and witches, but there are plenty of fortune tellers and self proclaimed witches and magicians who aren’t. Whether you believe in the stuff or not, it doesn’t matter. If someone devotes their life to studying tarot cards and someone who believes in the validity of tarot cards gives them $10 for a reading, should that tarot reader be arrested? If you believe in magick and give your spooky friend $20 to come over and ward your house from evil spirits, is that fraud or is that just goofy?
If you know what these cards mean, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are already on their way.
It just seems that these laws have huge potential for abuse in the wrong hands. With more people than ever before saying that they practice witchcraft or magick of some sort, and things in the news like an attempt to hex a supreme court justice and a church’s subsequent response with magical warfare of their own, maybe we should be careful with the laws we leave on the books. However, there is a bill in Canada now to repeal the witchcraft laws, which will hopefully be passed soon. After all, the future is unwritten, and things can quickly get weird.
.
