A Newfoundland bridal shop owner who hung a seven-year-old boy from a coat hook until the child’s face reportedly turned purple has been granted an absolute discharge.
Rodney Philpott, 54, was found guilty in July of assaulting the son of a customer’s fiancé during an incident on March 25, 2025. Philpott co-owns the design business that bears his name in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The incident occurred while Philpott was helping a woman select a wedding dress, according to the National Post.
In a decision issued September 24, Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court Judge Lloyd Strickland said the unnamed child “struggled to breathe” while being held on the hook.
“Presumably the collar of his coat was pressed firmly against his throat,” Strickland wrote, according to the publication.
The judge also described the boy as “hyper and probably a distraction,” characterizing Philpott’s conduct as “an ill-considered, misguided continuation of horseplay.”
The child told the court he felt a pinch in his throat while suspended from the hook. A bruise was later discovered on his neck, the report said.
His father testified that the boy suffered neck pain and missed several days of school while recovering.
Rodney Philpott, 54, received an absolute discharge last Thursday after hanging a seven-year-old boy from a coat hook in March 2025
Philpott co-owns an eponymous design shop in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
The father further told the court that his son had experienced sleep problems and was afraid to return to the mall where the bridal store is located.
The customer and a family member testified that Philpott turned the boy’s coat hood inside out before hanging him from the hook.
According to the outlet, witnesses said Philpott did not take the boy down until his face had turned purple.
The court also heard that the child had been running around the dressing room during the incident last year.
He was allegedly “tormenting” Philpott as the shop owner brought dresses to the woman, the report said.
Judge Strickland noted that it is “rare to impose a discharge in a case involving the assault of a child.”
“But the unique circumstances of this offense and this offender satisfy the court that a discharge would not be contrary to the public interest,” Strickland wrote.
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Under Canadian law, an absolute discharge means Philpott was found guilty but will not have a criminal conviction recorded against him.
The boy “struggled to breathe” because of Philpott’s actions, according to the judge
Philpott’s online biography says he creates “one of a kind, over the top designs that appeal to the fun side in everyone”
Strickland said the ‘most evident aggravating factor’ in the legal case was the boy’s age.
However, he noted that Philpott could not ‘be said to have been in a traditional position of trust with respect’ to the child.
‘Nonetheless, children do tend to implicitly trust adults,’ Strickland said in the reported decision.
He added that there was ‘evidence of playful interaction’ between the boy and Philpott.
The judge also mentioned that nobody had testified that the boy ‘resisted when he was lifted and placed on the hook.’
Strickland wrote that Philpott, who lacked a previous criminal record, had not burst out at the child in anger.
‘The circumstances of this case give me no reason to believe he is a risk to anyone’s safety going forward,’ Strickland wrote.
However, the judge also said there was ‘evidence of playful interaction’ between the boy and Philpott
The judge added that Philpott was ‘misguided but not malicious’ in how he treated the boy.
‘I am not concerned he may do anything of the sort again,’ he said, per the outlet. ‘A probation order would serve no purpose.’
He added that he expected Philpott would be ‘very hesitant to ever handle a child again.’
An archived biography for Philpott said he created ‘one of a kind, over the top designs that appeal to the fun side in everyone.’
His store has continued touting its selection of dresses on social media since Philpott was granted the absolute discharge.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Philpott and the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Court system for comment.