Crown withdraws historical sex-assault charge
Jury trial for Douglas Bourque, 69, of Middle West Pubnico, N.S., had been set for January
A Nova Scotia man scheduled to stand trial next month on an allegation of a violent sexual assault decades ago no longer has to worry about the criminal prosecution.
Crown prosecutor Geoffrey Hutchin and defence lawyer Adrian Forsythe appeared in the Court of King’s Bench at the Burton Courthouse on Tuesday, scheduled to go through a pre-trial conference in the case of Douglas Bourque, 69, of Middle West Pubnico, N.S.
Bourque - who appeared in court Tuesday by telephone from Nova Scotia - faced a charge of sexual assault causing bodily harm to a complainant.
The indictable charge alleged events at Base Gagetown in Oromocto between Aug. 1 and Oct. 1, 1988, and Bourque’s jury trial was scheduled for Jan. 20 to 28.