McAdam man denies sex assault with weapon
Blake Edward Scott, 37, is being held in custody pending trial, set for late summer
A McAdam man is headed to trial on charges of sexual assault and assault by strangling after denying the two counts Wednesday.
Blake Edward Scott, 37, of Lake Avenue, appeared in Fredericton provincial court in custody and in person Wednesday to answer to two indictable charges.
He elected to be tried in provincial court and pleaded not guilty to May 3 counts of sexually assaulting a woman while threatening her with a weapon (a flare gun) and assaulting the same complainant by strangulation.
Information identifying the complainant can’t be published, as it’s protected by a court-ordered publication ban.
Because Scott was remanded after a bail hearing last month, Judge Natalie LeBlanc noted his trial needed to be held sooner rather than later.
She scheduled the trial for Aug. 28 and remanded the defendant again until that time.
If convicted of the sex-assault charge, Scott would face a mandatory minimum prison sentence of four years, since the weapon it’s alleged he used is considered a firearm.
Don MacPherson can be contacted at ftonindependent@gmail.com.