McAdam man admits to lesser sex assault
Blake Edward Scott, 38, was scheduled to stand trial Monday opted to plead guilty
A trial for a McAdam man on a charge of sexual assault with a weapon was averted when he opted to admit to a lesser, included offence Monday.
Blake Edward Scott, 37, of Lake Avenue, was scheduled to stand trial Monday in Fredericton provincial court on two indictable charges: sexually assaulting a woman while threatening her with a weapon (a flare gun) and assaulting the same complainant by choking.
The charges stemmed from May 3 events.
The victim’s name is protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
Defence lawyer Edward Derrah told court Monday his client was offering a guilty plea to a lesser charge: a summary count of sexual assault. Prosecutor Matthew Paik said that was acceptable to the Crown.
Judge Natalie LeBlanc accepted the plea to the lesser offence, and she scheduled Scott’s sentencing hearing for Sept. 11.
Scott has been in custody since his arrest, and the judge remanded him again pending sentencing.
The second charge is expected to be withdraw following the sentencing hearing for the sexual assault.
If convicted of the indictable count of sex assault with a weapon, Scott would have been facing a mandatory minimum prison sentence of four years, since the weapon referred to in the original charge is a firearm.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.
A sad day when raping someone at gun point can be pled down to summary offence.