Saskatoon man accused of hate speech for alleged comments on slain woman's online obituary

A 54-year-old man is facing three criminal charges after allegedly making hateful comments on the online obituary of Megan Gallagher.

Robert Gordon had a lawyer appear on his behalf at Saskatoon Provincial Court Thursday for one charge of indecent communications and two charges of child pornography - one for making child pornography and one for possessing child pornography.

Brian Gallagher, Megan's father, says the family received a tip that someone was making "hateful" comments on a funeral page about their daughter shortly after her obituary was posted online to a local funeral home's website.

Megan's remains were found near St. Louis, Sask. two years after she had been reported missing.

Her celebration of life was held on Dec. 6 in Saskatoon.

Police said on Dec. 1, the Hate Crime Unit received a report of indecent communications with a hate/bias motivation on a website in Saskatoon. The comments were screened by moderators and never posted publicly, but they were reported to police that day.

After investigating, a search warrant was executed in the 1100 block of Avenue W North on Feb. 1 when Gordon was arrested.

"An application under section 718.2 is being requested as race was an aggravating factor. Section 718 of the Criminal Code of Canada allows for increased sentences to be considered where there is evidence that a hate-motivated crime has been committed," Saskatoon police said in an email to CTV News.

Outside of the courtroom, Brian Gallagher expressed his frustrations after lawyers opted not to read the charges aloud.

"They're just numbers on the docket sheet. We can Google them, but we don't know what they are yet, so it sure would be nice if they read them out in court so the layperson can get a handle on what's happening," he said.

"I really have empathy for people that have no contact with the justice system."

Nine people have been charged in connection to Megan's death and her family has been closely following the court process.

After more than 100 trips to the Saskatoon Provincial Court building, the Gallaghers have a better understanding of the processes, but still find them frustrating.

"The process includes a bunch of numbers that don't describe what the charges really are," Brian said.

Megan Gallagher was reported missing in September 2020. Her body was found near St. Louis in September 2022 after a two-year search.

Nine people have been charged in relation to her death - four with first-degree murder and five others with committing indignities to her remains and aggravated assault.

Since Gordon's charges aren't directly related to Megan's death, the Gallaghers feel police and prosecutors aren't being as forthcoming with information.

"I don't know who they're trying to protect by not reading out the charges," Debbie Gallagher said. "Do the people in the gallery not deserve to know what those charges are?"

"I guess we're not the victims of the crime."

Police do not believe Gordon and Megan Gallagher knew each other.

Gordon will next appear at Saskatoon Provincial Court on May 11.

"It's getting better, but I stay up all the time trying to figure this all out," Debbie Gallagher said. "I think the brain will always search for answers that aren't being provided."