A second person involved in the fatal Bobs Lake boat collision is facing a series of charges in the wake of the incident.
Dakota Fillion, who was on board the fishing boat when it was involved in a collision by Matthew Splinter’s speedboat on May 18, has been charged for allegedly failing to display the vessel’s lights and for not having enough lifejackets on board.
Fillion is facing the charges under to the Canada Shipping Act, the provincial courthouse confirmed.
The charges are brought under Section 23(a)(ii) and Section 23(a)(iv) of the Act, which covers lighting requirements on power-driven vessels, and sections 3 and 204(a) of the Act’s collision regulations, which covers lifejacket requirements for each person on board.
His first court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 13 at the provincial courthouse on Montreal Street.
He is the second person charged in connection with the fatal collision between two boats that occurred on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, on the Victoria Day long weekend.
Fillion and seven others were on a boat when it was involved in a collision with a speedboat on May 18, police said earlier this year. The collision happened shortly after 9:30 p.m. when three people died and five other people were taken to hospital after a speedboat ended up on top of the fishing boat in the Buck Bay area of the lake.
Three people, all in their early 20s, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The victims were Riley Orr, Juliette Cote and Kaila Bearman. Five other people were taken to hospital with varying degrees of injuries.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced in late October they had arrested Splinter, 44, as the driver of the speedboat and charged him with a total of 12 criminal offences.
He was charged with three counts of dangerous operation of a conveyance causing death, three counts of dangerous operation of a conveyance causing bodily harm, three counts of impaired operation causing death, and three counts of impaired operation causing bodily harm.
The investigation has been ongoing since May under the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch alongside the Office of the Chief Coroner, along with multiple members of OPP crime units, collision reconstructionists, the Technical Collision Investigation Team, and Forensic Identification Services.
Members of the Frontenac detachment of the OPP, the OPP emergency response team, canine unit, other OPP units, South Frontenac Fire and Rescue, Central Frontenac Fire and Rescue and Frontenac Paramedics all responded to the incident.
Splinter was in custody from the time of his arrest until Nov. 29 when he was granted bail while he awaits a criminal trial.
The charges against Fillion are not criminal – they will be heard at the provincial courthouse level.