A bridal shop owner in Newfoundland and Labrador has received an absolute discharge after being found to have hung a seven-year-old boy from a coat hook until the child turned purple.
Rodney Philpott, 54, was convicted in July of assaulting the son of a customer’s fiancé during an incident on March 25, 2025. He co-owns the eponymous Philpott design store 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 unidentified child had “struggled to breathe” as a result of Philpott’s actions.
“Presumably the collar of his coat was pressed firmly against his throat,” Strickland wrote, according to the outlet.
The judge also described the boy as “hyper and probably a distraction,” while characterizing Philpott’s conduct as “an ill-considered, misguided continuation of horseplay.”
The child told the court that he felt a pinching sensation 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 he hung a seven-year-old boy from a coat hook in March 2025
Philpott is the co-owner of an eponymous design shop in Grand-Falls Windsor, Newfoundland, Canada
The father said his son had also experienced sleep problems and was afraid to return to the mall where the bridal store is located.
The woman being assisted in the shop and a family member told the court that Philpott had turned the boy’s coat hood inside out before hanging him from a hook.
According to their testimony, Philpott lowered the child only after his face had turned purple.
The court also heard that the boy had been running around the dressing room during the incident.
The report said he had allegedly been “tormenting” Philpott as the shop owner brought dresses to the customer.
Judge Strickland acknowledged that discharges are rarely granted in cases 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.
An absolute discharge means Philpott has been found guilty but, under the law, is not considered convicted.
The boy “struggled to breathe” as a result of Philpott’s actions last year, according to the judge in the case
An online bio for Philpott said he created “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.
