Former Inuvik teacher continues legal battle for custody

A man who once taught in Inuvik is continuing his legal battle to have a custom adoption of his child overturned.

Hugues Latour says his son was adopted out to a relative of the mother three years ago without his knowledge or consent. He's asking the court to cancel it and give him full custody of the child.

In an affidavit, Latour says he hasn't seen the child in almost five years. He portrays the mother as irresponsible and neglectful during the time they were together and portrays himself as a devoted father.

None of the allegations in the affidavit have been tested in court.

Latour says he went back to Inuvik in March of 2014 to go to court to get his son back. During the visit, he says he was threatened by members of the mother's family. He says they had him kicked out of his hotel and banned from several other hotels and restaurants in town.

During that visit a local businessman set up a roadside sign on the town's main street saying:"child molesters are not welcome in our town."

Latour faced several sex-crime charges involving teenage girls while in Inuvik. He was not convicted of those charges or any of the other charges laid against him while he was there.

• Citing new information, Crown stays charges against Hugues Latour

One set of charges was dropped when the prosecutor received last minute information that led him to conclude a conviction was unlikely. Other charges ended in a mistrial when not enough French speaking jurors could be found to hold a trial in Yellowknife.

Latour was not in court during a brief appearance in the case in Yellowknife yesterday. The next appearance is scheduled for June 16.