Former Sask. Party MLA seeking alternative measures to deal with charge

The legal team for former Saskatchewan Party MLA Ryan Domotor appeared in court for the first time Thursday to answer to the charge he faces for allegedly paying for sex.

Domotor’s case was scheduled for Regina Provincial Court at 9:30 a.m. A legal representative stood in for Domotor’s lawyer, Darren Kraushaar.

Domotor was not in court for the appearance.

Domotor’s legal team is seeking alternative measures to deal with his charges, but the legal representative in court Thursday was not certain what those measures would entail.

Typically, alternative measures are an out-of-court option in which the accused acknowledges responsibility, but that isn’t a guilty plea.

The case was adjourned to Feb. 1. The representative said the case would likely be resolved in February.

Domotor, the MLA for Cut Knife-Turtleford, was arrested in November in a human trafficking sting and was charged with communicating for the purposes of obtaining sexual services. The next day, he was kicked out of the Sask. Party caucus and removed from all official appointment responsibilities.

Speaking on Nov. 20, Premier Scott Moe stood behind the decision to remove Domotor from caucus.

“What happened is disgusting and vile, to be quite frank … A government needs to be supporting women that are in a vulnerable state, not exploiting them,” Moe told reporters.

The premier said police informed the government that an MLA had been charged and Moe said that within a couple hours, after the government had confirmed the situation, he made the decision to kick out Domotor.

“We acted quickly … and I would say harshly — rightly so,” said Moe. “It’s a very serious situation and it’s a situation where, I think, the actions are exactly the opposite of what any government member should be doing.”

According to a release from the Regina Police Service at the time of Domotor’s arrest, the city’s Vice Unit had undertaken a three-day project to combat “sexual exploitation and human trafficking.”

Police said the project resulted in 16 arrests, including that of Domotor.

“He is facing a charge of communicating for the purposes of obtaining sexual services,” police said in the release. “The male was arrested at a business in East Regina at approximately 2:00 p.m. on November 16, 2023.”

Domotor was elected in October of 2020. In July, he was acclaimed as the nominee for the Saskatchewan Party in the Cut Knife-Turtleford constituency for the 2024 provincial election.