After a parole board found Jeffrey Cairns has a “deviant sexual attraction toward minors”, the former Brock Trustee and St. Catharines philanthropist was released from jail after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
In December 2018, then-63-year-old Jeffrey Cairns was found guilty of three sex-related offences dating back to 2010.
At a jury trial held in St. Catharines, the victim, now in his late 20s, testified that Cairns repeatedly molested him starting when he was 14.
The victim testified that Cairns, whom he had considered to be like a second father, started groping and fondling him. He said the incidents escalated to include masturbation and oral sex according to court documents.
“You had so much opportunity to use your influence for good, yet you chose to use it for your sexual fantasies with my son and that will leave me with an ache in my soul until the day I die,” said the victim’s mother to Cairns during the trial.
If the name Jeffrey Cairns sounds familiar, it’s because Brock University named the Cairns Complex after Jeffery’s family when his father donated $8 million to Brock. Jeffrey Cairns snipped the red ribbon alongside his brother John when the building officially opened in 2012.
Jeffrey Cairns was a longtime community member of Brock’s Board of Trustees and highly influential in the decision to build the Cairns Complex, as well as many other executive decisions at Brock.
He resigned from the Board the day after being arrested for his crimes in August 2016.
In 2019, almost one year after Jeffery Cairns’ conviction, Brock officially renamed the building to The Roy and Lois Cairns Health and Bioscience Research Complex to distance Brock from Jeffrey and emphasize the contributions of his parents Roy and Lois. Roy Cairns, whose face is now displayed near the entrance of the complex, was an original investor in the Brock University Founding Fund back in 1962. Roy Cairns died in 2011 after a long battle with cancer which overlapped with Jeffrey Cairns’ numerous incidents of sexual assault.
Jeffrey Cairns was formerly the president of Charlesway Corp. Ltd., a Niagara-based private equity investment firm which he inherited from his father. He was also the former commanding officer of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment and was involved with Scouts Canada and St. John’s Ambulance.
Despite being convicted in 2018, Cairns managed to avoid jail on bail for over a year mostly living at his cottage in Kawartha Lakes and at a residence in St. Catharines with few restrictions.
“He freely moves around the many neighbouring towns and cities – Coboconk, Fenelon Falls and Lindsay – enjoying their restaurants and services. He also is frequently at Sir Sams on winter weekends,” said an area resident in Kawartha.
In June 2019, Cairns was sentenced to four years in jail after his appeal failed and the charges remained.
In 2021, Cairns was released from custody pending another appeal of his convictions. Conditions of his release included that he cannot communicate, directly or indirectly, with anyone under the age of 16.
Over a four-month period, Cairns attended a grocery store and engaged in multiple conversations with two boys who worked at the store.
On one occasion he is reported to have grabbed the shoulder of one boy and offered to buy him a birthday present and on another occasion he discussed masturbation with the boys according to the board. Cairns denied making any sexual comments.
Chief Justice of Ontario Michal Fairburn dismissed the appeal and returned Cairns behind bars.
The disgraced businessman was denied parole only 10 months ago after the Parole Board of Canada said the 68-year-old convicted sex offender would present an “undue risk to society” if released, citing his continued denial of the offences:
“In the opinion of the board, you need to add a self-focus on managing your sexual temptations and risk areas. This lack of insight and reliance on outside parties to mitigate your risk areas displays an inability, or unwillingness to address your true underlying risk issues and until you do so, your risk remains undue.”
Despite the overwhelming evidence of Cairns’ inherent danger to the community, he was released on Aug. 4, 2024, having served two-thirds of his sentence in jail.
The Parole Board of Canada, in a decision made July 7, imposed “special conditions” on Cairns’ statutory release.
The board can impose conditions that it considers “reasonable and necessary to protect society” and to facilitate an offender’s successful reintegration into society.
Cairns is to have no contact with children under the age of 16 unless accompanied by an adult who knows his criminal history and has previously been approved by his parole supervisor.
He must also stay out of the Niagara region and the Bloor West Village area of Toronto and have no contact with the victim or his family.
The conditions of his statutory release will remain in effect until his warrant expiry date in December 2025.
