Bayfield, Ont. mother found not guilty in 2021 arson

Sarah Keys is feeling vindicated after being found not guilty of intentionally setting a fire that destroyed a home near Bayfield more than two years ago.

“In the end, our hope is that now, with this verdict, she’ll be able to move on and people will be able to see that she was always telling her truth, which is that she did not cause the fire,” said Keys’ defence attorney, Cassandra DeMelo.

Keys was charged with one count of arson-disregard for human life and one count of arson-for fraudulent purpose on Feb. 11, 2021 following a fire on Jan. 7, 2021 that destroyed a home on Whys Line, near Bayfield. Keys was renting a newly renovated basement apartment at the home when it went up in flames.

Over the course of the eight day trial, a Goderich, Ont. courtroom heard that an Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office fire investigator report couldn’t rule out the fire being intentionally set by the “intentional application of an open flame to combustible clothing in the basement.”

As the lone occupant of the basement, the Huron County Crown’s office determined Keys set the fire for the tenant’s insurance she secured just three days before the fire.

Judge M.A. Garson however disagreed, and said in his June 9, 2023 judgement, “The Crown has fallen far short of the standard of proof required to satisfy me that this was a fire deliberately or intentionally set by the defendant.”

DeMelo said while Keys is pleased with the verdict, the charges alone have left a mark on her both mentally and financially.

“It’s caused her to lose jobs. It’s caused her to have other financial impacts in her life that came with needing to defend herself, all the way through an eight day trial,” she said. “It was an unfortunate use of her resources, and unfortunate she had to endure all that while she was simply trying to clear her name.”

Keys’ own family home in Bayfield was destroyed by fire in February 2019. The home in question on Whys Line was also previously destroyed by fire in 2015. DeMelo said Keys hopes to stay in the Bayfield area, as she tries to put her life back together.

“It would be a lie to say it hasn’t impacted everyday life for her, including finding people are gossiping about you when it’s not justified,” said DeMelo. “Even the use of resources at a time when our system is so backlogged that we had to use eight days of trial time on a case that ended up ultimately, by the judge’s words, ‘falling far short.’ But, that’s just the way it goes sometimes in this business, as unfortunate as it is."