[JURIST] A US citizen with a Canadian wife and family who was convicted of third-degree sexual abuse began serving a plea deal Monday where he must avoid the US except to meet with his parole officer. Teacher Malcolm Watson's effective exile to Canada, where he already resides, has drawn attention from immigration lawyers who question whether a US judge has the authority to banish a criminal from the country. The plea bargain, struck to avoid forcing the fifteen-year-old victim from testifying in court, has been indirectly criticized by Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg [official website], who has been quoted as saying that if a non-citizen is deemed a threat to Canada, Canada will do all in its power to remove that citizen.

Watson was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree sexual assault when he was discovered in April sitting in a parked car in a Cheektowaga NY mall parking lot with a fifteen-year-old student. The Toronto Globe and Mail has more.