WARNING: This article contains details about a criminal sexual assault trial and may be disturbing to some readers. If you or someone you know has been impacted by sexual violence, contact the 24-hour Sexual Assault Support Crisis line at 1-877-954-6242 or the RCMP.
The sentencing of an Indigenous healer who has been banned from every First Nations reserve in the Okanagan will take place on Aug. 29, 2025, in Penticton Supreme Court.
Donald Wayne Ashley was found guilty by a jury for an assault that took place in October 2024.
Originally, Ashley had been charged with sexually assaulting six different women during healing sessions in their homes on Penticton Indian Band land over four days in 2022.
One charge was stayed at the start of the trial, and two more were dropped later on following direction by the presiding Justice.
The trial lasted more than a month and heard testimony from five survivors. The jury deliberations that followed took almost three days before a verdict was reached.
The jury found that the only crime Ashley was guilty of beyond a reasonable doubt was the charge of common assault of the first survivor to testify, and acquitted him of the remaining two charges.
Penticton Indian Band Chief Greg Gabriel condemned the ruling at the time.
“This criminal justice system failed our women once again," Gabriel said. “We have to fix this damn justice system so these poor women that have been abused don’t have to carry that with them forever. He gets to walk away free, but they have to live with what he did. He’s a predator and he’s brought such disgrace to a very sacred part of our traditions and healing."
On March 6, 2025, the Syilx Chiefs of the Okanagan Nation Alliance announced that they had signed a tribal council resolution that banishes and bars Ashley from entering any Syilx Okanagan Nation land, whether he wishes to reside in the area or participate in any events in the area.
The chiefs also blasted the verdict and said that the Canadian legal system failed to protect their community.
